


Kindness

by YaminoTenshi202



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Bestiality (?), Continues into Series, Cultural Differences, F/M, Incest, M/M, Multi, Other, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-04-18 09:23:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4700768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaminoTenshi202/pseuds/YaminoTenshi202
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He remembered his mission, Kakarotto did. As the last of the Saiyajin, however, what was the point to fulfilling it? Gohan called him Goku, and Kakarotto liked it. "Waking to nothingness..." It made sense, it was all that Goku had left.</p><p>An "If Kakarotto had remembered his mission" story</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Recalling

Current time: June 737

Current location: Moto-kuni, Planet Vegeta

* * *

In the beginning, it was wonderfully warm and safe. He could hear the voice outside and he wanted to meet this person, this person that kept it safe and lovely here. There was another voice that seemed happy enough, but as the days passed on, there was greater and greater sadness.

However, he was growing too large for the small safe place. He felt the space around him grow small at times, as though it wanted to push him out. He felt the same. He'd been growing in size and his wanting to meet the voice outside.

Another voice was coming close. It was familiar. Usually it was soft and warm. The first voice sounded frightened and the second sounded angry almost. He was frightened now, as the warm space around him grew tight, and this place he loved to swim in was disappearing. He was suffocating now and his only relief, his blood told him, was if he got out.

But his... chest hurt.

His eyes were filled with brightness, and he was now freezing! Large warm things holding him seemed to sear his flesh. His chest began to hurt, and he let out a cry as his blood advised.

"Gine," he heard, and it was from the second voice. "He's okay." The voice came from the large thing holding him; it was the familiar one, the one that was soft.

"Let me... see," came another voice, and he softened his cries in order to better hear the voice that had been near his since his conception.

His vision began to clear as he was passed from large warm things to smaller warm things. The creature in front of him showed an expression of joy, as well as one of tiredness.

"Bardock, he... looks like you." The soft hands brought him close to her face. He felt safe. "You look just like your sire, Kakarotto."

* * *

Current time: June 740

His mind was cloudy and it hurt so much. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the bright light. He heard soft, worried tones from the person that had found him. Soon, that person came into clarity.

"Goku, thank the Heavens you're awake." The man caressed the boy's cheek for a moment, tears in his eyes and it seemed as though he had been crying for a long while now. "I thought…"

"Grand… pa?"

His grandfather broke out into sobbing, and the boy named Goku felt something stirring in his chest. It was familiar, and it made him longing for something that he knew didn't exist anymore.

He remembered that mission that he had been given, and what his sire and dam and told him. Looking at his grandfather now, he realized that his progenitors were right and he could be happy here. He could live here, as the Last One. The blood in his veins was finally calm after months of rage and sadness.

"Grandpa… I'm okay."

He would never forget.


	2. Beginning

Current time: June 737

Current location: Moto-kuni, Planet Vegeta

* * *

In their small family unit, the family of Bardock, son of Moto, sat in their sleeping space. Raditz, who had been at the dwelling of his uncle, returned and immediately took to the new infant. They cooed and bayed softly at each other, something that was interesting and lightening to see between a newborn and a year-old. Currently, the older boy was in his sire's lap, mumbling about how small Kakarotto was and how strong he might be as he got older.

The mother of Kakarotto, Gine, was holding her newborn up to her chest once more, knowing that he would still be hungry. She was perturbed, however, by her infant's disinterest, letting go of her breast. Kakarotto only continued to cry.

"Hmm. Strange."

"What's strange, Gine?"

"He's not eating."

Bardock stood up, pushing their elder son away gently. Raditz hummed in questioning. "Is something wrong with Kakarotto? Bardock?"

Bardock ignored the boy, only hushing him as he picked up his infant son and tried to examine him as best as he could. Kakarotto continued to cry as his sire put an ear to his small chest.

For a moment, Bardock's heart seemed to stop. This was his second son; how did he not see this coming? After what had happened on Kanassa, he and Gine had coupled once more. He returned from Meat with nothing to say, no stories to tell; he was the only survivor, was the story.

How did he not foresee this in his own son?!

"Gine? What's wrong?" Raditz reached out to his dam, who cooed softly down at him. Gine stood up on shaky legs, rubbing her face clean of any blood from earlier in the evening. Raditz reached out to hold her arm, steadying her.

"I don't- Bardock!" Gine reached out to her mate, the male covering the infant in a small blanket and heading towards the portal to their dwelling. "Where are you going?!"

"To the physicians. Stay here, Gine!"

"Bardock!"

* * *

"You must have missed something!"

"Bardock," the physician sighed. "We've done three examinations and two scans on your son. We haven't found anything that could be wrong with his health." The physician looked down at the infant, who was again refusing the synthetic nourishment that the nurse was offering to him. The infant began to cry again. "Perhaps it's an inability to thrive."

"Kim, he drank from Gine. He was fine and feeding for four hours." Bardock growled and hit a nearby table. Luckily, it had been one built into the floor, so only the dent of his fist was the difference that he made in the furniture.

"Yes, he may have seemed healthy for those hours, but he may have been holding on with what little energy he had left after the birth." The nurse approached them on quiet feet, her eyes alarming. "What is it, Rino?"

"I felt the creature's pulse as I tried to feed him again. It stopped for a small period, and that's when he began to cry again."

"What?" The physician looked into the room where the infant was being tended to by another nurse who lifted him up and began to rock him slowly.

"Have you examined him internally?" Bardock pressed forward. "His blood? Anything else?"

"Not yet," the physician responded, walking over to his instrument table. "But I will."

Bardock saw a needled syringe in the doctor's hand. "I offer thanks."

"Offspring of our kind are precious, Bardock. For a people so few in number, we cannot let your son die if we can prevent it."

* * *

Bardock returned with no infant that evening. Gine punched her mate's arms, leaving bruises that would last for several days certainly, and Bardock allowed her to do so. Raditz was contused by the behavior, but he allowed his sire to explain to him after the two adults fought in the Repose part of their dwelling.

"This is how Gine will handle this. Kakarotto is not well."

"She keeps crying."

"She is upset. Why is she so upset? What's happened to my brother, my Karo?"

Bardock raised his eyes to his son's gaze. "Karo? ... He has a virus of the heart. He will stay with the physicians for a month or so."

"A month?!" Raditz cried out in obvious displeasure "That's over 200 days! Past the next Moon Phase!"

"Yes. Imagine Gine now. She can only see Kakarotto in the Healing-Dan." Bardock patted Raditz's hair, and he was reminded about how much his elder son's hair resembled his mate's. "She's had the creature in her for a month and so soon after holding him, he's gone. You feel lonely, too, don't you?"

"... A little. I want someone to spar with, someone like me, from you and Gine." Raditz pouted. "It's not like the Yasai clan are the best of comrades. All of the Kaiyō clan is weak but they are kind. I want someone who is mine."

"Yours…" Bardock hummed. "Kakarotto is your brother. He'll always be yours. You must keep him safe, Raditz. Always."

Raditz nodded and totted away to Gine's room. To offer comfort, Bardock didn't know. He thought of his son in the Healing-Dan and his future. He closed his eyes and saw Kakarotto as an older Saiya-jin. He was strong and somehow innocent. He seemed healthy at least.

A flash of red and suddenly, Kakarotto was much different than before. He was stronger, softer, and Raditz was fighting him. A being stood, seeming to fight them both but continually targeting Raditz. They were of the same race! Why were his sons fighting each other, and why did Kakarotto look so different, so much like Gine?!

The red of the Moon on whatever planet they were on shone down on them, and soon the third being was dispatched and the fight was only between his offspring, under the light of the Red Moon. Soon they were baying at one another, and fighting again began in the oldest of dances that certainly clung to their blood, and clung to the future.

The Kanassan had only mentioned the future of the Saiya-jin when Bardock had encountered him and it made sense now.

_"You have no future save that which is cursed! As it is with my people, there will be nothing but destruction for yours!"_

His bloodline would continue, but at what cost to his offspring?

"A curse in our blood…"

_"Think of it as a kindness… Heh heh…"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bardock - Root vegetable: Burdock  
> Gine - Root vegetable: Negi/ Spring onion  
> Raditz - Root vegetable: Radish  
> Kakarotto - Root vegetable: Carrot  
> Kim - Sea vegetable: Kim/Gim  
> Rino - Sea vegetable: Nori
> 
> *Reviews are much appreciated.


	3. Changing

Current time: October 737

Current location: Moto-kuni, Planet Vegeta

* * *

"How is he?" Gine pressed a hand to the incubator where her younger child was resting. The small mask that gave him air was snugly secured to his small face. His eyes were moving underneath his eyelids, hair waving slightly in the healing chamber.

"He's recovering well from the operations he's had." Rino smiled at Gine and patted her shoulder. "The physician would like to talk to you about his progress and something further that he feels necessary to discuss."

Gine nodded, turning to her mate. Bardock nodded. Half a month since the child had been born, their small dwelling became more anxious, though calmer since Raditz was sent on another mission. Bardock was eager for it.

"It will give him something to focus on while Kakarotto is here."

Gine accompanied the physician and her mate towards a smaller, private room.

"As you are aware, the operation on your son was highly experimental but it did succeed. His power level is remaining rather low as his body attempts to direct his energy towards his healing."

"How low?" Bardock asked.

"At two."

Gine froze. "Two…" Most offspring were born with a power level of 20. To have only a tenth of that energy needed just to be born… "How will he survive with that?"

"He is surviving somehow." The physician pulled up a display of lines and words that Gine, in ignorance of her youth, did not understand. Bardock, however, did.

"His brainwaves are heightened."

"Yes, they appear much like yours when you returned from Planet Kanassa." Kim sighed. "Not only that, his hormones are fluctuating. I had told you of the operation, of the different amounts of medication and hormones that he would require during the surgery itself, to get the film of virus off of his heart. This resulted in the reproductive hormones changing as well."

Gine frowned. "I don't understand."

"The hormones for stress, immunity, water and mineral control, and reproduction are all controlled by the same system. The operation caused such stress to his system that… it changed his reproductive health as well."

The air was frozen in the room. Gine found that she could not breathe. What other purpose would her son have aside from fighting? Never having a family unit, there would never be reason for him to stay on Planet Vegeta. They would train Kakarotto to have no interactions of closeness. Would he ever attempt to mate with a female, even if it was only temporary?

"Can… Can he sire offspring when he is grown?"

"We are still uncertain to that."

Gine turned to Bardock, whose face was unchanging. "Bardock?"

The male stood, looking down at the physician. "'For a people so few in number, we cannot let your son die if we can prevent it'... That's what you told me half a month ago, Kim." The air seemed struck alive, with flames.

"Bardock," Kim pleaded. He must have felt the other male's rise in power, as Gine did. "The operation was successful. Your son is alive and is getting stronger everyday. We need more time. He will be a good soldier to our Lord-"

"What else did you put in my son?!"

Gine jumped at that, clambering to her feet. "'What else'? What do you mean, Bardock?"

"Those brainwaves are not Kakarotto's." Gine looked to the physician and she saw in horror as his face turned pale. Her heart came alive and she reached out with claws that had been lengthened during her pregnancy and had refused to leave her until her infant was safe with her.

"My son… What did you do to him?"

"I..." Kim looked down at the clawed hand. "Lord Freeza, you are aware, came to visit your son."

"Yes, to offer condolences for our offspring's illness."

"He consulted scientists on the use of genetic experimentation for illnesses and healing his men in battle." Kim closed his eyes. "One such scientist recommended the use of Kanassa-jin genetic material to create a protective film on the infant's organs."

Gine's grip tightened. "And what does that mean for Kakarotto?"

"Gine, let him go." Bardock stepped forward, placing a hand on Gine's. After a battle for dominance that took place between their eye gazes, Gine let go. Bardock let the physician have no respite before grabbing his throat, lifting him from the floor.

"What was this scientist's name, Kim?"

The physician shook his head. He let out a choked sound as Bardock squeezed his neck harder. Looking down at Bardock, Kim felt frightened. He saw the barbarity that Freeza's men feared in their kind; perhaps because it was of his blood, but he thought for a moment of the irony that all of the other Saiya-jin tribes had thought the Moto Clan had lost their power and pride, and here was one son of Moto, attempting to kill him, as their ancestor had done to his.

"Tell me!"

"Zu…" Kim felt his only support drop as Bardock let him go. His vision was hazy and dark, his head hurting as air returned to his lungs.

"Who?"

"Zumoko… of the Kyū Kon Clan."

* * *

Zumoko sat in her dwelling, waiting for the judgement that would be cast on her. She did regret what she had done to the infant, but for her, she had no choice. Her sons were dead and they had been of no true concern to her while they were at war and fighting for their Lord Freeza. The Moto Clan did not concern her at all, but seeing the child in the incubator made her heart feel strange. Perhaps this is what her cousin had meant when telling the story of the Moon and the Beast.

It'd be better for her clan anyway.

"Zumoko!"

The woman sighed. "Gine, I raised you better than that."

Gine stood in front of her, eyes dangerous. "You raised me. Rightfully, I owe you my life, but you have no right to touch my infant!"

"There's that barbarity that only the Moto Clan could give you." Zumoko stood and approached her daughter. "You bore that creature's offspring; I am making sure that he will carry on the grace of femininity that is in the Kaiyō Clan. He will have that from me, not my daughter who threw her blood away after her brothers have died and left nothing of our line!"

"We are of Moto blood!"

"By your sire!" Zumoko grabbed her daughter's hair, bearing her offspring's neck in a show of power. "Your sire, who was a barbarian! The base strength of the Moto Clan means nothing if he cannot stop their damn offspring from hurting their dam, hurting me! We are to be treated well during the pregnancies, especially between Clans, but I was not! I was called a burden by your sire's family when I bore his brothers' offspring! Only when I gave birth to you, was I a blessing! Now you could mate with any of the other Clans' males as you saw fit. The other Clans would treat you more kindly in your vulnerability.

"But you, daughter." Zumoko pulled at her daughter's hair again, smiling at the whimper she heard. "You didn't even try to find honor in your burden. You chose a mate for life; to bring bitterness to your dishonor, you chose one of your Moto cousins: Bardock!"

"He is mine and mine only!" Gine punched her dam's stomach, only succeeding in making her curl over her stomach and hit Gine's head with her own.

"Child, I indulged your sweetness too much! Your offspring, your son, will carry your burden from now on! With the blood of Kanassa comes no sexual distinction; affected, he'll be, when the Red Moon comes. He will bring our honor back to us!"

Zumoko heard something break behind her and as she turned, a great pain erupted across the side of her face. As she fell, Zumoko recognized the assailant's face.

"N… Nephew."

Bardock looked down to his distant aunt. "A curse in our blood… You damn hag!"

* * *

Kakarotto heard little, saw little, tasted little, and smelt nothing. He felt as though he was back inside of Dam again, though he could hear Dam outside of where he was. She was farther away now, which he didn't like.

"Brainwaves… Fluctuating… Hurt?"

"... Healthy… Hormones… abilizing…"

"Moon… assa-jin…"

Gine sounded sad. He didn't like that.

* * *

"From the study of the effects of Kanassa-jin genes on creatures like the Saiya-jin - creatures of warm blood - the doctors found that they could kill viruses that targeted the internal organs when ingested or injected." Rino pulled out the reports of the use of such technology after battles for other planets. They were already spanning six months back until the battle for Kanassa. "They all show positive results."

"But that was put inside of Kakarotto!" Gine interjected. "Whatever Kim and Zumoko did, it's affecting him and will affect him as he grows. They said it had effects on his ability to be a sire to offspring."

Rino blinked back at the young dam. "Are… Are you certain?"

"Yes."

The conviction with which the young female spoke did shake something inside of Rino. "All right… We can test this. You said that the change or effect would come with the Red Moon?"

"Yes," Gine assured the nurse, finally relaxing somewhat since Bardock had taken her dam and the physician to the Council for judgement only hours ago. "That is what Zumoko said."

"The Red Moon is a strange phenomenon on Vegeta. It emits not Blutz Waves but Niyo Waves. They assist in aiding the females in… mating."

Gine frowned at that. "Is it true that the Kanassa-jin had no separation of sexes?"

"No, they did, but the males, when there were no females, could physically change to have the body of a female." The display of brainwaves that was showing Kakarotto's brain activity seemed calmer, alongside the display of hormones that disturbingly reminded Gine of the ones that they analyzed when cutting up the animals for slaughter.

She felt ill.

* * *

Suddenly, cold air came at his face and Kakarotto cried out in shock. He reached up with tired limbs and pushed off the device that gave him air to breathe. His lungs were filled with the cold air and he continued to cry in shock. The warmth that appeared around him, that seemed to radiate towards him, did not soothe him. It only made him more tired. When he opened his eyes, he saw a light and something told him that it was the source of this strange warmth.

It sang to him, like how Gine sang to him through the walls of his new warm place. He reached up to it, feeling something inside him change.

He heard Gine's voice and, distracted from the light, he cried out to her. He wanted to be held by her again. She was warm, soft, and safe.

* * *

When Bardock returned, he saw his mate with their bundled offspring in one arm, and she covered her face with her other hand.

"Gine… What's happened? Is Kakarotto well?" He looked down at the infant. He was latched onto Gine's breast, drinking hungrily. Bardock found himself almost smiling at the sight; Kakarotto was a voracious eater.

Gine lifted her face, and Bardock saw tears there. There had been no tears there since her sire had passed on after giving his blessing to their union.

"They did what they wanted to do."

Bardock stared down at his mate. "What did they want?"

"Zumoko wanted Kakarotto to carry on Kaiyō blood… by being a dam." Gine reached down gently to Kakarotto's mouth, breaking the strong suction that the infant had on her breast. The infant cried out in shock, especially as he was handed to his sire.

Bardock removed a layer of the blanket that was wrapped around his son, and he found himself understanding the vision that he had had half a month ago.

"A curse in our blood…" he whispered. Kakarotto welcomed the soft finger on his cheek, and he crooned in the same way that he did when he had first realized that the person holding him was his sire.

"A daughter then…"

"Only when the Red Moon is there." Gine stood shakily, coming close to rest her forehead on Bardock's arm. "After that, Rino saw that it would last twelve hours after the Moon's rays are gone. He'll change back after. They've already… tested the Niyo Waves on him before."

"Gine…" He brought Gine's forehead up to meet his. He wondered how much blood they shared, truly. They were distant cousins, but if what he saw as true, Kakarotto...

"Gine, Raditz must not come back to us. Until we're certain when the next Red Moon is and how it will affect Kakarotto."

"What? Why?"

"I need to tell you what happened on Kanassa. I'll tell you about what I saw, what I'm seeing, and what I'm going to see."


	4. Learning

Current time: February 738

Current location: Yasai-kuni, Planet Vegeta

* * *

King Vegeta of the Clan Yasai looked down at the female that had been brought to his judgement. A common female of the Kaiyō clan, though this one had made herself a scientist. There was nothing more interesting about her, specifically. However, they, the studies, interested him… and with the last months’ events, it made him more interested in the infant in question.

“All of what you’ve told to us, you’re certain of it.” It was a statement, not a question. She would be bent to answer it otherwise.

“Yes.” The female glared up at her ruler, her sovereign. “I’ve told you everything.”

“And you said your grandson was your subject.”

“... Yes.”

The King closed his eyes. From the extent of the operations, the infant would have suffered immensely. Every incision, every injection, every vivisection of his body; from what he had gathered from Bardock, the boy cried continually unless held by his dam or sire. He would flinch when touched, fearing whatever would come would also deliver pain onto his body.

When the Red Moon came at the end of the previous month, the infant became female as the studies had predicted. The form was stable, as though the infant had always been in such a body. When King Vegeta had first come to see the infant, she was crying unless held by Bardock or his mate. Her nose wrinkled as though smelling something foul.

“What affect does this have on his interactions with males?”

“... We don’t know. Perhaps he will not see a difference in his behavior with males or females. Perhaps he will think of himself as neither. Perhaps he will find an honor in being both.” The female shrugged. “This was for my own honor, not the infant’s nor my daughter’s… And to sate the curiosity of many.”

The second time, only the next day, he came with his own son. Prince Vegeta stared at the infant in a curious manner. He questioned the male name of Kakarotto, and King Vegeta had chosen to explain the cruelties that the young Moto male had suffered. While the Prince showed no mercy on the field of battle, he did show some mercy as a son… and as a boy.

He had studied his son as he held the sniffling infant, Vegeta letting the girl-once-a-boy play with his fingers. The boy made a mention of his younger brother that he had been hoping for, to have a playmate; still, he whispered to the child in his arms to grow, so that they may fight against each other. Kakarotto had suckled on the boy’s finger, gradually growing quiet.

“Perhaps you sated Our curiosity as well.”

Prince Vegeta had asked about the girl-infant, wondering if he could have him as a partner when he was grown. He commented on the strength with which he held his hand. The scouter had read 98, something expected in a four-month-old infant. He would be a great fighter, and Vegeta and Raditz would teach him everything of how to defeat their enemies.

Never had the King seen his son so curious.

He turned to the guard that kept watch over the female. “Keep her alive. Barely. I may have use of her.”

* * *

Kakarotto crawled on the floor of his family unit’s dwelling, feeling the floor under his chubby fingers. It felt cold, hard… Different than what he had remembered when he was still inside of Gine. He could hear Gine preparing something in the Preparation room. Perhaps he’d go there…

“Kakarotto. Are you hungry?” The boy reached up to his dam, cooing as she began to expose her chest and latching onto her breast. Her milk was sweet on his tongue and he dug his nails lightly into her breast, making sure that he had a good hold on her. It wasn’t enough that he made indentations in her skin.

Gine continued to move around the room, cooking a meat that Bardock preferred. It was getting easier to do it with one arm, especially since she had had Raditz’ infancy to call on for experience. She hummed softly, muttering a tune that her dam’s sister had taught her before her death.

Kakarotto let go of her after the meat had finally been put onto the table. Gine laughed lightly at the small burp that escaped the infant. She set the creature down into the special seat that would hold him in place. He babbled up at her in attempt to speak.

“Would you like to try eating, small one?” Gine remembered that Raditz began to eat solids at half a month old. As she brought a piece of meat to her mouth to chew and soften, Kakarotto quieted himself and stared at her, wondering.

“Here.” Gine placed a small bit of the meat in her son’s mouth. The infant quickly took to mashing it with his small teeth and tongue, moving the meat in his mouth. Kakarotto was crooning softly in happiness, opening his mouth for more when he was done.

“Slow down, little one.” She gave him more, and Gine crooned at her son as he laughed after the second bite. “I think we’ll all need to slow down…”

Bardock came into their dwelling, smelling of the Healing-Dan. Gine sighed at the familiar scent.

“Bardock, one day you need to come straight back here. You come back almost dead every time…” Gine smirked at him. “Do you like the nurses more than me?”

Her mate panted softly in her ear, and Gine almost regretted teasing him. She watched as Bardock extended his hand to Kakarotto. The boy purred softly, pudgy fingers wrapping around his sire’s large fingers. He sniffed at the appendages, letting out a whimper.

“Wash your hands, Bardock.”

“Wha-”

“You smell like that surgeon.”

* * *

Kakarotto was still eating the chewed meats that his dam gave him, the infant the only one in the Preparation Room. Gine wanted to speak to the guests that had arrived, leaving the boy to his devices.

“Kakarotto.” The boy looked up at his name being called and he saw another boy - or girl? He couldn’t tell when they wore so much armor. He also didn’t see enough people to really tell from sight, anyway. - enter the room. He smelled familiar. He smelled like Bardock and Gine.

The other Saiya-jin came closer and Kakarotto could smell Gine more strongly on him. Small arms wrapped around the infant, and Kakarotto squirmed for a moment as he was adjusted to fit more comfortably in the boy’s grip.

“You’re Kakarotto. You’re my…” The boy pressed his lips to Kakarotto’s forehead, and Kakarotto felt safe. He could recognize the other now; this was one of the voices he had heard while inside of Gine. It was a small voice back then, one that promised safety whenever he heard it.

“Raditz.” The boy turned to the doorway and Kakarotto saw Gine smiling. “You’ve met your brother.”

“After being away forever,” the boy named Raditz whined. Kakarotto smelled relief on the other. He let out a small cooing noise of excitement and happiness and Raditz replied with a grunt. “He’s little for a month-old boy.”

“The surgeries wore his body down, Dee. He’ll be stronger soon.” Gine reached down for Kakarotto, humming in curiosity. Kakarotto turned towards Raditz, loosely wrapping his tail around his brother’s arm. He smelled of other things, not just Bardock and Gine. He was curious of those things, of the scent of meat and sweat and excitement. He jerked his head up at a loud laugh.

“So there’s the small one.” A tall man that looked much like Bardock came in. His skin was darker than any that Kakarotto had seen, and it made him curious as well.

“Tarles, this is my brother.” Raditz walked them both towards the large man, Kakarotto trying to bury himself in his brother’s armor. “Kakarotto, this is our sire’s brother, our uncle.”

Tarles reached down to the infant, brushing away some of his hair so that it stayed out of the boy’s eyes for a while. “Heh, I wondered if Bardock’s next son would have this hair of ours.”

Kakarotto smelled the appendages as they pulled away. This one seemed friendly. He reached out for Tarles, cooing.

“Come here, Small One…” Tarles plucked the boy out of Raditz grasp, throwing him up slightly. The infant let out a spiel of laughter after his initial shout of surprise. Tarles joined in the laughter. This was something he missed.

“How long will you be here on-world, brother?” Gine asked.

“Only two more days.” Tarles tossed the boy into the air again, smiling at the laughs that followed. “Where the Hell’s Bardock?”

“He went to meet with the Clan Yasai.”

Raditz took his brother from his uncle, Kakarotto trying to jump in his older brother’s grasp.

“The royal family?” Tarles hummed in interest. “My little brother must have gotten their attention with all of death wish missions that he’s been on.”

* * *

“You want me to… hand over my son?”

King Vegeta looked down to the third-class Saiya-jin before him. Bardock of the Moto Clan was a strong one, yes, possibly on par with the royal Yasai. The Prince, his son, looked down at Bardock with similar thoughts. The Prince looked up at him in certainty.

“Our son has taken interest in him. We met with you, your mate, and your son few weeks ago. His ability to change with the Niyo Moon is a precious thing. It should be protected.” King Vegeta could already feel the tension in the throne room rise as the scent of fury and protectiveness filled the room. “What bothers you of this?”

“To consider my son, who is not yet a month old,” Bardock growled. “To consider him for anything relating to have a partner during the Moon is too much. Even if it is to the Noble Yasai.”

The monarch sighed heavily. “Our son has only taken interest in him as a comrade. I learnt that your Kakarotto is the first with this ability, and he is also the first that my son has grown interested in, even if he is male originally.” He looked to the Prince, who nodded solemnly.

“I just want him to go on a mission with me in a few weeks, Captain Bardock,” the boy stated. “I can even get the boy acquainted with our Lord and proprietor, put in a good word. It will be better for when he gets older.” The not-yet-year-old boy tilted his head in curiosity, waiting for an answer.

They looked down to Bardock with scrutiny. He looked anxious under their gazes, and furious.

“... Where will my Prince take him?”

“To Marmash,” Prince Vegeta explained. “It’s a planet rich with energy but with weak in power levels. It’d be a good place to start his training. Raditz will be coming with us.

“That wouldn’t be a problem, would it, Captain Bardock?”

Bardock lowered his head, raising up a hand. The King approached his most powerful captain of the lower-class. Looking down at the hand offered to him, the King Vegeta placed his hand upon it, palm to palm. For a moment, he felt fear coming from Bardock.

“We’ll guard your sons. They are precious to a race with few. Kakarotto will come back.”

* * *

Raditz turned towards his Prince and his brother. Kakarotto gripped tightly to Vegeta’s armour, murmuring against the tough material. His short tail was hanging low, occasionally touching Vegeta’s and loosely curling around it before letting go.

“Kakarotto, you need to raise up your power and attack. Don’t worry about killing them for now. Just get stronger.”

Kakarotto blinked at Vegeta’s whispered words and turned to Raditz. He reached out with a small hand towards his older brother. At his older brother’s touch, Kakarotto hummed and nodded.

“Di… Gi…” Kakarotto purred out. He let the older Saiya-jin go and let himself drop to the ground beneath them. The beings in front of them looked confused at the sight of the children.

For a while since leaving their pods, the three had continued to circle the first village they came upon. As the Maromash-jins grew curious, Raditz let his scouter read the levels there.

‘They’re greater than Kakarotto’s, but they’re not focused. He should be fine.’

One of the Maromash-jins shouted something in excitement turned fear, meaning in the Universal Language the name of the Saiya-jin. They came forward and the older Saiya-jins fell into a fighting stance. Kakarotto immediately copied them and Raditz felt the air against his skin change.

Kakarotto did not kill anyone in the first village, nor the second.

In the third, he broke an elder’s neck with a well-placed, or perhaps just lucky, kick. No death resulted then, but Raditz quickly corrected that.

His power level was indeed rising, faster than Raditz and Vegeta had calculated. It wasn’t much higher than how Raditz’s power increased with age, but it was much like Vegeta’s. The boy was fast.

“He’s doing well, Vegeta,” Raditz noted when the third village was eliminated, smiling with pride at his brother’s power. Vegeta nodded, turning to see the infant placing his hands on one of the corpses.

“Kakarotto?” The older males approached the boy, prompting him to look up at them with wide, curious eyes. They seemed to be looking deep into their bodies, seeking something that neither Raditz nor Vegeta could explain in their youth. “What are you doing?” Vegeta asked.

“Gi…” Kakarotto reached up to Vegeta, his eyes still wide and searching. “Warm…”

“Yes, but they’ll be cold soon.”

Raditz watched as Vegeta picked up the boy who began to rub his nose against Vegeta’s chin.

“Gi… Di. Don’t be cold.”

“It happens to everyone, Kakarotto,” Vegeta answered. He pressed a kiss to the boy’s lips, listening to the soft purring coming from the boy’s chest, feeling it against his own. “We’ll be together then, and we’ll be ancient before that happens.”

Raditz came to pet his brother’s forehead.

* * *

Bardock looked up where his younger son stood on the altar by the Prince Vegeta. His mate beside him, his son on his other side… He never felt more alone.

The King stood before the small Moto family, between them and the boys at the altar.

“This will not be broken. The blood of the Moon and the Earth beneath us stand witness to this. The eyes and ears of the Stars and Air will maintain this for eternity.”

His younger son was mated to the Prince Vegeta at only 246 days old. The Moon was upon them, along with the Beast, and Bardock could hear the Kanassa-jin again, laughing at the curse that began when Bardock returned to the Planet Vegeta.

The child’s belly would one day swell and all that Bardock had hoped for his son, avoiding unnecessary blood-shed in the name of a ruler that wished to crush them in his palm, to not be under the power of another without a chance for independence, to be happy… it would be gone with the continuation of their blood.

‘Perhaps it would be best if we all died, in the end.’

He saw the Prince Vegeta smile affectionately, at Kakarotto, who welcomed the warm touch and kisses of the older boy. There was no desire to consume in the Prince’s eyes yet, but Bardock knew it would come; soon that desire to teach the boy to be stronger could become a desire to dominate. If it would be like that of he and Gine, Bardock could only hold out weak hope.

‘Beasts.'


	5. Biding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A circle is round. It has no end.

Current time: December 738

Current location: Palais Yasai

* * *

The Prince Kakarotto was indulged and restricted in ways that Gine was grateful for. She was allowed to stay close to him at all times, though the Queen was somewhat bothered by her presence. Two females in the same position, to rear offspring, was sometimes difficult. The Queen, however, aided her in educating the boy. Gine taught him of fighting styles that she had learnt on the battlefield, while the Queen taught the boy of simple diplomacy and etiquette.

He was not allowed to leave the Palais unless expressed by the King and he was to be accompanied at all times by a guard, Gine, or the Prince himself. If the Prince was not present, the Queen was to be there.

Kakarotto was currently following Gine’s movements, blocking her punches with his small arms and fists. He was somewhat slow, but it was expected of a two-month-old Saiya-jin. She bared her teeth in mock violence, Kakarotto smirking at her in amusement. He enjoyed delivering his punches and kicks, never stopping whenever Gine threw him back down. He just jumped back up and continued forward.

After an hour of their play-fighting, the boy’s stomach grumbled and he whimpered at the feeling.

“Gine, I’m hungry. Can I eat?”

“Can ‘we’ eat?” Gine looked up to the doorway of the training room, seeing the Queen stand there.

“Queen Botani,” she addressed, bowing. Kakarotto mimicked her. As Queen Botani approached, the two Moto kept their heads bowed until the familiar, pale hands of their Queen laid themselves on their heads.

“How is Kakarotto progressing, sister?” The Queen welcomed the boy’s hands on her robes; they weren’t anything delicate or fine, as such things usually were not durable and the Queen found them somewhat repugnant.

“His skills are improving drastically. His time of those… experiments don’t seem to have inhibited his growth, Queen Botani.”

“This pleases us.” The Queen blinked, shivering, and Gine gasped as she saw that Kakarotto had brushed his fingers through the fur of the Queen’s tail. She reached forward for him, but Queen Botani raised her hand. “It’s all right. He must learn. Coddling him won’t help him.”

With that, the Queen wrapped her tail around the boy, keeping a firm grip on the wriggling infant.

“Do not touch someone’s tail, boy.” Kakarotto was lifted to see his mother-in-law’s face, tilting his head.

“Why?”

“It is not proper nor polite. Anyone you meet who touches your tail without permission deserves punishment. If you touch someone’s tail without permission, you must be punished. Royalty is not exempt from this.”

Kakarotto pushed his lower lip outward, confusion apparent on his face. Gine almost laughed at how cute her son looked. He was the epitome of infantile. He gasped as Queen Botani threw him with her tail, grunting at his impact with the pads of the training room floor.

When he stood up again, he toddled over to the Queen. He offered up his palm, lowering his gaze to the ground. He mumbled an apology, to which the Queen answered with kneeling down and grabbing his small hand.

“You are learning well, little Prince. Listen to your dam and to us, and you will be great.” She pressed a kiss to his hand, something sweet but distant, as their blood was not the same. Kakarotto nodded, kissing the Queen’s hands and then reaching for those of his dam’s.

The infant’s kisses were sweet.

* * *

It was a happy time when Raditz and Prince Vegeta both returned to the Palais. Raditz came to miss his younger brother, this one that smelled so much like his bearers that he knew that they were meant to stay together. He praised his younger brother, the new Prince of the Planet Vegeta, in the new strength that he’d gained. When Prince Vegeta came, Kakarotto was showing them both what he could break with raw strength and even that smallest of energy beams that scorched the surface of a wall.

“Kakarotto, you’re getting stronger!” Raditz cheered. He held the boy close, enjoying the purring that the infant emitted and kissing the boy’s soft mouth. He could still remember how small his brother had been when he had been born. There had been the scent of fear and worry that night in their Dwelling, and to see his brother like every other Saiya-jin. The energy beams were coming early for him, something that he would be able to master at a young age like the Prince had.

“Of course,” Prince Vegeta affirmed, letting Kakarotto kiss his cheeks. “Shall we go to eat then?”

Kakarotto squealed at the idea of food, and it made the two older boys laugh as the infant toddled away to his dam that had been standing and watching them interact with a smile on her face. As Prince Vegeta began to follow them, Raditz reached out a hand to grasp the younger male’s shoulder.

“Raditz?”

“... Kakarotto was mine first. You will have him, but I want him too.”

The Prince’s eyes furrowed. He looked confused that someone aside from his dam and sire was telling him about a condition, but he shook his head. Perhaps it was because Raditz was older than him.

“If Kakarotto will let you, I don’t mind.”

Beasts.

* * *

Bardock let his younger son stay on his shoulder. The boy was able to hold himself up as Bardock walked them to the Shiteya-Dan.

“Ah,” Banira greeted them. “This is your boy, then, Bardock. A month old then?”

“Yes. Two now, actually.” Bardock set the boy down on the counter, where Banira began to take out things with which to measure the boy for his new Battle Armor. “How long will this take?”

“A day, as always.” The boy was fascinated with the instruments, trying to break them already, as was instinct of examining things. His small teeth, Bardock noticed, made small indents in the wooden instruments, as Banira made his measurements around the boy’s head, neck, and chest. When it came to the boy’s legs and arms, the wooden instruments were used to measure their length, as well as that of the boy’s torso.

Banira set the infant on the floor, watching how the boy attempted to toddle on his own. Kakarotto made it to his sire without trouble, his tail swaying behind him to balance him. He climbed into Bardock’s embrace, purring softly. Bardock rubbed at the base of the boy’s head, lulling him into sleep.

“Come later in the evening.” The tailor waved the younger males away, dismissing them. “Is the boy going on a mission?”

“He’s going with Raditz and our Prince to train with the rest of that Cartload.”

Banira chuckled. “Your sons continue to amaze, Bardock. Two months and he’s going with the Cartload and not a weak planet. They’re much like you.”

* * *

The Cartload of Saiya-jin infants intimidated Kakarotto somewhat. They were bigger than he was, and the scouter that he was being trained in using seemed too big for his hands. He was first trained in reading its many symbols. Being the youngest present, the tutor was somewhat patient with him.

First, the translation chip was inserted to the space behind his ear. The universal language was understandable now to his ears, as well as the other languages that Raditz practiced with him. As he tried to speak the universal language, Raditz helped him, moving the infant's tongue to help him handle the more complex sounds.

Then came functioning the scouter properly, learning its many buttons and properties. He was told not to bite it, which was somewhat upsetting. The device was showing him power levels, which he did learn to read, and soon he was learning all of its features, not just the readings. He could record things for later and have them playback. He’d be sure to remember that.

The infants in the Cartload did their best to frighten him, panting and hooting and saying words that Kakarotto did not yet understand. He did his best to growl and grunt at them in the ways that the Queen Botani taught him. Some actually did not bother him afterwards; others followed him. After all, two-month-old infants of the third-class were usually tearing up planets, not training officially.

He practiced hard, using all that Gine had taught him in the past month to his advantage. Despite others overcoming him usually due to size, he was told that he was advancing well.

For his senses to be trained, they blindfolded him. He would then use his nose to find a certain plant in the room, avoiding obstacles that the tutors would warn him of beforehand. After a week, there were no more hints and he could only use a little bit of information they gave him to find his way. Eventually, his other senses were trained as well, inhibiting the others and soon teaching them to be integrated.

His training would continue like this for several weeks.

* * *

They were in the Palais Yasai, muttering soft things to each other.

“You will be a wonderful warrior, Kakarotto.” Raditz kissed his brother’s neck and ear. Kakarotto was purring against him at the praise and gentle touches. The small hands gripping at his armour were loosening and clenching the fabric.

“Di.”

It was the infant’s favorite thing to say whenever he could get Raditz’s attention, his special shortened name. He pressed his lips to his older brother’s chin, nickering softly. Raditz hummed against his brother, pressing his lips to the infant’s.

“Karo, what do you want?”

“Mee.”

“You want more meat?” He shuffled the boy in his arms, shifting his weight so that he could glide through the air to the Meatery. He pulled out some dried pieces of meat and offered some to his brother. “You had one piece earlier. Just two more. Don’t just swallow it.”

Kakarotto nodded, ripping the meat apart under his small fangs. He smiled and purred, chewing on the food and pressing wet lips to Raditz’s cheek. His short tail curled around the older boy’s arm, showing his affection further.

The two boys ate, Raditz listening to Kakarotto’s babbling and few combined word-phrases. He could understand some of it, like his complaints of the tutors tying him away from the other students, and that the oldest boy in his section of the Cartload always called him a “brat” and he didn’t know what that meant but it sounded bad, especially with how the older boys of the Cartload would try to smell the base of his tail. Raditz smiled at his little brother’s discussions, because they seemed so new and different from his.

‘He doesn’t understand yet, that we’re born to fight and die.’ Raditz pressed more kisses to his brother’s mouth, licking at the corners of the infant’s mouth the meat that remained there.

‘I don’t want him to die. I care too much for him.’ He pressed his tongue into Kakarotto's mouth, tasting the meat there and taking it into his own mouth, eating it. Kakarotto protested and reached for more meat, chewing it greedily.

"Di... Mean." Kakarotto reached up and threaded his fingers in Raditz's hair, attempting to groom his brother.

"And Karo is greedy." Raditz followed suit, grooming his younger brother and purring.

It was upon this that Bardock walked in, his sons and he picked up his younger son, ushering Raditz to spar with him while Kakarotto went with his dam back to the Training Room.

“Why can’t I be with Kakarotto, Bardock? You never like me being with him alone.” Raditz turned just fast enough to block the punch that his sire threw at him. His arm was in pain, but he grit his teeth to bear it. He stopped, though, when he felt Bardock’s strong grip on his arm.

“You haven’t seen the change yet, Raditz. Prince Vegeta has claim over Kakarotto, but he’s not here.” Bardock smirked and threw the boy to the ground, staying over him. He pressed a kiss to the corner of Raditz’s mouth. “Stay away from Kakarotto, or stay away from the two of you being alone. We don’t need you and Prince Vegeta fighting over him.”

“But we are done fighting over him!” Raditz struggled against his sire’s grip. “Kakarotto was going to be mine, but Vegeta got him. Vegeta said I could have him first though. He doesn’t even know anything yet, because he’s younger than me, but he said I could!”

He didn’t expect the punch to his stomach, nor the slap across his face. His ear was ringing and Raditz had trouble understanding what Bardock said.

“You haven’t seen what I’ve seen, boy! When the Moon comes, you’ll hurt Kakarotto more than you can imagine! You will be the end of us!”

But… he cared for Kakarotto.

Why then..?

He felt the pain more than the hits that caused them. He heard Kakarotto's laugh and felt his kisses more than the cracks in his bones. Bardock bit his neck with painful kisses, licking at the blood and pressing his lessons into his son. When Bardock pressed his lips to Raditz again, the boy whimpered. His sire had always been a dominating presence, and his lips against Bardock's were bleeding. Raditz panted against his sire's mouth, whimpering and closing his eyes.

"Kakarotto..."

"You may stay with him when someone is there to watch you two. Otherwise, I will have you sent on missions until Kakarotto is older."

"How much older?" he dared to ask.

"Enough that he will be with Prince Vegeta, and he'll be able to say 'no' to you himself." Bardock let his son rest for a moment. "Your brother is going to be something rare and great. You'll protect him, but do not think of harming him. One day, he may be the only family you have."

The small Saiya-jin sat up slowly, Bardock moving backwards slightly. He was dazed and dizzy, eyes almost swimming and terribly unfocused.

"But... I care for him. Why would I want to hurt him, unless we're fighting?"

Bardock looked down to his son, petting his head. He finally saw the tears he'd been smelling run down Raditz's cheeks - a rare and pretty thing to see.

* * *

In Bardock's vision, there was sadness.

As the dam’s belly swelled, in the only slight way that was specific to the Saiya-jin, the sire could not find a way to assist. He was more horrified in that the dam was not allowing him to come close, as though the dam was fearful of him.

When the infant was born, the dam stared as the sire took the infant and began to mark him with his scent. The infant marked, the sire attempted to give the small creature to its dam.

The dam didn’t even reach forward, more puzzled as to how the infant appeared, both in conception and in birth, in the first place.

“How..?” the dam asked. There were tears there.

They were the small family unit’s death notice if they continued.

* * *

“Are you sure?” The King Vegeta hummed at the new information. That Raditz would desire his brother, whether in a familial manner or intimate manner, was of no concern to him, but the Prince would not be fond of this; as arrogant as he was, the King couldn’t imagine the Prince willing to share his Mate.

“Yes,” Bardock assured. “It would be more beneficial to have Kakarotto in the incubator, to keep him safe not only from Raditz, but other males. The liquid will mask his scent and keep him healthy while the Moon changes occur.”

The tutor that was there for Kakarotto when with the Cartload, Riridei of the Botsu Clan, nodded. “Some of the males around Raditz’s age, those already close to sexual maturity, have been responding to Kakarotto. Even if he is only two months, my Lord, they sense that he could bear them offspring.”

The King turned away from the concerned sire and tutor. It was interesting, to say the least.

“Then do so. He will be in the incubator until we all deem appropriate. Bardock, there is a room here in the Palais if you feel that the guard here is sufficient. Riridei, contact the physician Karora to have him care for the infant.” The King Vegeta dismissed the tutor.

“Bardock, you have something else on your mind.”

The commander looked down to the floor, thinking of a proper way to word the horrors he’d seen.

“Your Highness, of Lord Freeza…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Botani - from Botany  
> Banira - Fruit vegetable: Vanilla  
> I wanted some cute Bardock and Kakarotto time.  
> Infant - technical term for a baby monkey  
> Cartload - A group of monkeys  
> Riridei - from the Flower vegetable: Daylily  
> Karora - from the Sea vegetable: Carola


	6. Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing sexual happens in this chapter. Just to clarify.

When Prince Vegeta arrived from his latest mission, he was told briefly that his mate was to be put into an incubator in 14 days' time. There, Kakarotto was to stay until he was of an age that the Prince could claim him fully.

'I'm still not completely sure of what that means, but if Kakarotto is going to leave...' Vegeta looked down over the banister to where his Kakarotto, Raditz and Gine were sparring in the training room below. The infant was eager and hungry for challenge. Even when Raditz would throw him back into the wall or Gine would catch him on the ground, the infant would stand up or signal that he was overtaken. He would stand up if overtaken, smiling and rushing forward again after receiving more advice from his dam or brother.

The Prince leapt over the banister, catching himself on one of the long chains and sliding his way down.

"Jiita!" Kakarotto squealed, running towards his mate and friend. Prince Vegeta welcomed the soft kisses on his cheeks and lips, feeling the warmth of being missed and liked against his mind. He sent the feeling of longing to his small mate and Kakarotto pressed himself more urgently to the Prince, purring. Gine and Raditz stepped forward, laughing as Kakarotto tried to babble about their exploits to the Prince. Prince Vegeta caught a few words, but he saw the infant's memories as well, however vague they were.

"Dam Gine, Raditz, allow me to train with you." It was a small demand, carefully said to sound like a request.

"Of course, small Prince." Gine smiled, bowing deeply. "However, I need to speak with Bardock about something. I'll leave you and Kakarotto with Raditz."

With that, the three boys were left in the room to train. Prince Vegeta asked his small mate to go grab the heaviest weights that he could carry. With the infant distracted, he turned to Raditz.

"Do you know about Kakarotto's fate?"

He received a growl in reply.

"Fourteen days." Raditz frowned at the Prince. "Bardock says it is to keep him safe from other males... including me."

Prince Vegeta balked at that. Raditz only had ever cared for his younger brother, training him and protecting him. When they had gone to Maromasu, Raditz had protected Kakarotto from the primitive weapons there whenever the infant found himself in a tight spot; in his place, annoyingly, but if Prince Vegeta had to leave Kakarotto with one person, he would have Raditz be that person. He could never imagine that Raditz would try to hurt Kakarotto, unless...

"When you say from males, what would other males do?"

"... I forget how young you are, your Highness. Bardock means to keep Kakarotto safe from males that would want to try to mate with him." Raditz turned away, drawing Prince Vegeta to turn his gaze in the same direction. Kakarotto was testing various weights, his tongue sticking out slightly while concentrating on picking up the larger ones before going down to the lighter ones.

"He's mine."

"I know. Others don't know, and forcible mating can be quite damaging. I'm not going to hurt him... I won't let anyone else hurt him." Raditz let out a growl, and Prince Vegeta was stunned at the small sound of possessiveness. He heard an opposing sound escape his own throat, surprising himself. 

"Kakarotto is mine!"

"You said I could have him first."

"I didn't know what you meant!" Prince Vegeta, not yet a year old, knew little of mating, but he did know that a mate-bond was precious. He did know that his bond with Kakarotto was one that he wanted to nurture and protect. Kakarotto felt true affection for the Prince, and it was welcome. Raditz felt the same towards him, but the infant son of Bardock was precious. Mating was a precious process, as it results in offspring. Forcible mating... Raditz had just told him something that he knew nothing about.

"I didn't know what you meant."

"Now you do." Raditz stepped closer to the Prince, and the younger Saiya-jin cursed the fact that he was not older. "You and I both care for Kakarotto. I am already to guard you on missions together, and we have been comrades since you began to train. We could make Kakarotto happy for the rest of his life, even..." Raditz knelt down, holding his hand palm upwards. "Even if I'm not mate to either of you."

The Prince looked down at the offered palm. If he placed his hand upon it, he would be agreeing to something strange. He knew, even at this young age, that mating could happen between as many participants as possible, but a mate-bond was only between two, or so he had heard. Bardock and Gine were the first in decades to mate-bond, looking only to each other. He could often see the older brother of Bardock around them, protecting them.

He imagined Raditz being around them both, and Prince Vegeta found himself comfortable with the idea. He could imagine them taking care of small infants, the three of them.

"Can... Can there be three in a mate-bond?"

Raditz' jaw dropped down in shock, but he quickly closed his mouth again.

"I... I haven't heard of such a thing, my Prince."

"You care for Kakarotto," the younger Saiya-jin affirmed. "You care for me, too, don't you? As a friend, I care for you and Kakarotto is my mate."

"Ditsu! Jiita!" The smallest boy approached them both, Raditz still upon his knees. Kakarotto showed off the weight that he could carry, one of two stones' weight. He set it down, pouting.

"Why mad?"

"No, Kakarotto," Prince Vegeta cooed to the infant. "I'm just talking to Raditz about something important."

Raditz was about to speak again, to further explain to the infant, but he was silent when he felt the small hand of the Prince in his own.

"We haven't heard of it, but let's try it, Raditz."

* * *

Kakarotto didn't understand all that happened, but he did know that blood was delicious. It was something ingrained in them, inside of his mind.

"Go ahead, Kakarotto."

He knew that the taste of this person's blood would bind them together forever, as he had when he drank Vegeta's blood.

"Mmm..."

"That's right. You're doing well."

And he knew that it felt good - safe and affectionate - when they kissed, so he knew that this person's blood would be good. He didn't mind when he felt sharp fangs, fangs like his own, pierce his small arm, drinking blood from there. When Kakarotto had his fill of the other boy's blood, he smiled at the warm feeling against his mind. It was nice, warm, and safe.

"Raditz..."

"Let your brother drink, Kakarotto," he heard Vegeta chide lightly. "You'll be even closer now when he's done."

'Closer to Raditz?'

The thought made the infant purr, especially as he saw Vegeta and Raditz bit each other.

They'd all be closer to each other now.

* * *

Bardock found the three boys resting in the Prince's room, blood across their mouths and their scents intermingling. So the Prince found Raditz acceptable to include him in their mate-bond?

"Bardock," Kakarotto crooned, reaching to his sire with innocent longing. The man sighed, looking down at the other two boys while his younger yawned and began to fall asleep against him.

"What you two have done, without Kakarotto knowing or not, will lead to him suffering."

"We're going to keep him safe," the Prince insisted, the blood on his lips caught on an eager tongue. "Like this, if we're apart and Kakarotto is with one of us or with you or Gine, he'll always be safe."

Bardock watched with trepidation in his chest as the Prince petted his older son. There was a caring there, one that the Prince shared with Kakarotto... the one that Bardock did trust.

The Prince stared as Bardock set his younger son down again on the bed, the infant mumbling to Vegeta about sleep and stories.

"You have until tomorrow."

There was no protest from either Prince Vegeta nor Raditz. They knew that the King would agree no matter what had been decided before. This was all for Kakarotto and the lineage of the Yasai house.

"Story?"

Raditz hummed and thought to himself. He began to tell an older story, one that told of the first mating between Damu and Seyen.

There was blood and wanting and beauty...

* * *

_In old days, before the Elite, Upper, and Lower Classes existed, there was Seyen. A male, he pursued all his desires. There were none that could surpass his strength, and he was called the Beast, for his blood lust far outclassed that of others of his race. The Saiya-jin looked upon him as their Alpha, but they remained separate from him._

_One day, the only daughter of the Moon Princesses, Damu came upon the world, seeing the Saiya-jin. She fell fascinated by the Saiya-jin, wondering how they survived with tooth and nail and battle. For one who had all, Damu did not know such things and she wished to know, using her golden glow to welcome those to her, and to invite others to speak._

_She found herself taking journeys for knowledge upon the world, which gained the attention of Seyen. He looked at her, never seeing her face. He chose her then, to bear him offspring. She was weak and could not oppose him otherwise. Still, there was the innate curiosity of learning of new creatures, so Seyen observed her from afar. He saw her dance, heard her sing, and he saw her learn to fight, to draw blood as a Saiya-jin would. She held a beauty, covered in blood, that made his desire all the more strong._

_One day, as she sat alone, he came upon her._

_"I know you have followed me," she said with her back turned against him. She set down food, which Seyen took quickly, stuffing it into his mouth and consuming it wholly. "Why?"_

_"I desire you. I will have you."_

_Damu nodded slowly. "You are the Beast, they say, who takes without thoughts. You know nothing of me, I nothing of you. Why should I let you have me?"_

_"I will take you."_

_Damu shook her head. "Your strength is admirable, but if I give you offspring, will you leave me?"_

_"I will have you until I am satisfied," Seyen assured. "I will leave you be afterwards."_

_"I am not temporary." Damu stood, still not facing her challenger. "From the stars, we live forever, small fleeting thing. You will leave me be, upon your death."_

_And the Goddess fell into the night, leaving the Beast behind._

_The Beast ravaged the world below, paying no mind of his race. They were surely possible challengers for him, he thought, and Damu could have any male with her beauty and blood. He set about to destroy the world that he lived upon, furious and strong, ruining the world that his desire cared for. She was the object of his thoughts, the cult of his chest, and for some reason, the fury he felt towards her rattled his core._

_This was affection, something the Beast had never known. It only knew killing and taking. He only knew that this Goddess had rejected his desires, and it drove him not into thoughts of fury at being challenged, but it threw him into longing._

_As he set fire to the world, Damu came upon him, her eyes cold. Her body launched against his back, sending him into the ground._

_"Small fleeting thing, your death or mine." She placed herself in front of his next targets, growling._

_Seyen turned towards her, eyes of fire burning-_

* * *

"And lo, the Beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day, it was as one dead," Raditz muttered. "Unmoving, he fell to her beauty, as he had never seen her face until that moment, and he found her fury beautiful. Seyen surrendered to Damu, whose face appeared as the Full Moon does. He transformed into the Oozaru and, losing all thoughts of desires, he became an animal, one who cared for the Goddess in his hands. She pressed her hand to Seyen's head, and for the first time, Seyen was content.

"He carried Damu in his monstrous form, showing her all that he had accumulated, and she was enchanted by the devices and items he held, for he held the curiosity of a newborn within the body of a beast. He courted her, as all males do, and she responded favorably to both forms he held. Under the Blood of Red Moon, they coupled.

"From that day forward, the beast Seyen looked upon the swelling of Damu's belly and and recalled how her protective nature and beauty had kept Seyen from killing her. Her strength became his strength. The infant had a calm heart, unheard of in Saiya-jin. Yet, when he entered battle, seeing the slaughter of his kin, his heart became furious. He became as one dead, his heart stopping itself peaceful beating, and it turned to fury. He fought, tasting blood and ignoring its sweet taste. There was only thought of vengeance and battle and power.

"This was the Super Saiya-jin." 

Kakarotto was sound asleep. Vegeta pressed a kiss to the infant's forehead and to Raditz's cheek before nodding off as well.

Raditz sighed, alone in the dark. His mates looked so peaceful.

"Yes... Super Saiya-jin."

* * *

January: Age 739

Kakarotto was swimming again, and he couldn’t tell how long it was. He had Raditz's upon his brow, Vegeta's taste on his lips, and Gine's tears upon his cheeks.

Bardock left him nothing except promises of greatness.

* * *

February: Age 739

Prince Vegeta and Raditz were on another mission from Lord Freeza.

They were scheduled such that they would not return for several months. 

Prince Vegeta curled his tail around that of Raditz, offering and aking for comfort.

Raditz complied.

* * *

June: Age 739

Returning from another mission, Bardock attempted once more to seek audience with King Vegeta since they had agreed to place Kakarotto in the incubator.

He was only sent on another mission to expand Freeza’s empire.

"What is he thinking..?"

* * *

November: Age 739

Gine pressed her lips to the incubator.

“Kakarotto, I hope that the Prince and your brother return soon.”

* * *

April: Age 740

“Bardock, we’ve been ordered to return to Planet Vegeta!” Bardock turned to one of his comrades, frowning.

"It's begun then."

* * *

“Should we go back?” Raditz turned to Prince Vegeta, wondering. "You  _are_ the Prince."

“No, we’ll ignore the order for now.” The Prince threw away the carcass that he had finally finished tearing through the sinew of. “The mission isn’t done anyway. We’ll go home after, lest Freeza thinks that we cowered out of our mission for a trip home.”

Both thought of Kakarotto, still on the planet and waiting for them to return.

"Let's be hasty, but don't be messy, Raditz..." The Prince was nibbling on the barest part of the shell, the meat taken off of it ages ago, it seemed.

"What's wrong?" Raditz asked.

"... Kakarotto."

'We both want to go home.' 

* * *

The next time that Kakarotto awoke, he was past three months old, about 1030 days. He smelt Gine and Bardock, and for some reason, Bardock threw him into what he could vaguely recall being called a “pod.”

“Bardock! Gine!”

He could hear them talking outside, something about death and the scouters. He remembered that Gine had handed him one, one that she talked about “recordings” on, as he had been thrown in the pod. 

Kakarotto couldn’t really think beyond that. He only knew that he was in a pod and he was screaming and nobody was saying anything. He could only see the blackness of night through the small window as he was carried by Bardock to the other side of the world.

When he was finally set down, Kakarotto hurried to the window and saw his progenitors’ faces.

“Kakarotto, can you hear us?”

He nodded eagerly in reply.

“Out?”

“No, small one. We’re going to send you somewhere,” Bardock explained. “It’s a distant place with food and water, but they won’t look for you there.”

“No… Alone?”

“They’ll find all of us if we go together.”

Kakarotto hit the glass furiously with his hands, his lungs pained.

“If Bardock is wrong, we’ll come to get you as soon as we can!” Gine’s tears were evident on her face and Kakarotto wanted to lick them off of her face, just to see her happy again. “We’ll tell Raditz, too!”

“Don’t look at the full moon, and be wary of the Red Moon.” Bardock placed his hands on the glass. For a moment, Kakarotto thought he saw gold and light and his sire holding a small boy without a tail. “You need to live.”

Gine placed her hand on the glass. “Take care, Karo.”

Kakarotto felt his face grow wet, and his scent was different. It smelt of wanting.

Gas filled the pod, and the securement devices sensed the energy discs in his battle armour, latching onto them to place him in the pod seat. Kakarotto felt so sleepy now.

“Watch out for the Patrol!”

And he was sent off somewhere as he slept.

Somewhere lonely. 

* * *

When Gine returned to their Family Unit, without her mate, she found guards waiting for her. Acrosian foot-soldiers.

“You will come with us.”

“To where?” she growled out.

“To the ship of Lord Freeza. You’ll be his guest for a while.”

'Bardock... What do you know? What did you see?' 

* * *

May 740

Bardock saw his descendants. He saw his sons prosper and multiply. He saw them happy and still full of the desire to fight.

He saw Kakarotto and Raditz happy and at peace.

He laughed as the light almost finished him, but he felt the power of the Kanassan almost wane and explode again inside of him.

‘If I could go back to before this happened…’ 

The destruction of Planet Vegeta was transmitted to every pod and every Saiya-jin was haunted by the sounds of every scream on the Planet Vegeta. It stayed with them; it would haunt their dreams.

* * *

June 740

Kakarotto cried, howling up to the bright sky. His family unit was gone and he felt lonely.

“Oh… A baby?”

He stopped for a moment, looking up and seeing someone with white whiskers on his face. Desperate for warmth, he reached up and was greeted with a warm embrace. The man’s words were hard to pronounce, but he found that he could understand them. He wondered why.

“Little one, what’s your name?”

“K... “ His throat was so hoarse from crying, he couldn’t say his own name. “Ku…” He couldn't say his own name.

“Well… You woke up to this empty clearing here. What do you think about the name ‘Goku’?” The man smiled. “Until you can tell me, then. You can call me ‘Grandpa’.”

 As this creature carried him, Kakarotto looked up to the sky. He could not taste Raditz nor Vegeta on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *1 stone: 6.3 kilogrammes  
> *And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day, it was as one dead - From the intro to the 1933 King Kong  
> * I take liberties with every legend and mythology in the Dragon Ball universe.


	7. Growing

Age: August 740

After falling into the ravine and seeing Gohan care for him so earnestly, Kakarotto-

'No... No more Kakarotto. No family. No Saiya-jin. Only Gohan... so Goku.'

\- Goku took to calling the old man "Grandpa". There was meaning behind the word, he knew, but Gohan didn't truly explain to him. He asked how old the child was, to which Goku responded with three fingers. He was past three months old, but Gohan said that he was three years old. Perhaps time was different here.

"Goku, are you hungry?"

"Yes. I'm hungry." Goku smelled the sweetness of the oranges that Gohan always got from the trees that were lower in the valley. "Grandpa, we have oranges."

"Yes," the man said, peeling one and handing it to the little boy. Goku's tail waved behind him quickly, overjoyed at the sweet food. The foods here, though, however sweet and tasty, never truly filled him unless he consumed a large amount. Gohan spent much of the time when they were out in the forest finding food for them both to eat, as Goku seemed to use up their seven-day rations in two days. Goku helped as much as he could, his small size compensated by his strength, as he climbed into the trees and grabbed as much fruit as he could gather in his small arms.

The fish that Gohan had gathered that morning were over the fire, the smell exciting Goku's nose. The three-year-old hummed happily at the thought of food.

"Goku, we're going to practice our reading after breakfast, okay?"

Goku nodded. The letters on this world were so strange, the symbols meaning whole words instead of each one making a sound and a string of them making a word. He really needed to practice them all.

During the day, they would train. Sparring was a way for Goku to let our his energy and to remember all that Raditz and Vegeta had taught him. His tutors were helpful, but he definitely liked training more with his brother and mate. Gohan was even more skilled than they were, too. He was old, he said, and in his life had done many things.

When Gohan showed him how to renovate things around their home, Goku took to taking items from his pod and making new weapons and tools. The scouter that he kept at his waist was handy and he could hear his sire's voice telling him of many things.

The voice reminded him of the festivals he'd seen before he had returned to the incubator. He remembered the bells that he had been trained in playing, as they would be used to call to the infants of his Cartload. Order was demanded of them during those times, but they were also calling them to play and to fight. The bells were wonderful, and they reminded him that there was a softness to his life on Planet Vegeta. Gine taught him to play the bells, too. The sweet sounds of the metal and wood clinking against each other were like those that Vegeta kept in his room, the only art that they encouraged and admired. The music was welcoming and dear.

They would practice reading from the books on the shelves, Gohan and Goku tracing every letter.

"Work well, study well, rest well, and play well, Goku."

* * *

Age: January 741

Nighttime was for stories.

"Cars?"

"Yes, they're machines that travel on the ground to take you places."

"Wow..." Goku bit into the small bun that Gohan had made for him from rice flour. They had pounded the grains into the fine powder themselves. "Can we see the cars?"

"When you're older, we'll go. Show me what you made from your pod today."

The boy pulled out a small wrist band that held a large circular object to it. He held it up and light emerged from it. It seemed to solidify, the plasma did, and it became a blade that had an extension that Goku could wrap his hand around.

"We can make steaks now, Grandpa!"

Son Gohan laughed.

"Okay, put it away. We don't want it t' go off while we sleep."

Goku nodded, wiggling down to rest between Gohan's legs and taking off the wrist band. He settled it down on the low table that he used to climb up to bed. He felt his eyes droop down low, yawning. Gohan petted his head, whispering stories to the evening wind and to the child with him.

It was moments like these, like when Gohan praised him, scolded him, and taught him things, that reminded Goku of his family unit.

"Good night, little lady," he heard Gohan whisper.

On this night, the moon was red, and Goku had changed into what Gohan called a "girl" and all had gone on as normally as it could. Gohan was not as surprised as he had been last September when he had changed the first time, but it was still funny to see Gohan flabbergasted at the change when they went to the river to bathe. Goku merely curled up against him, and he was his grandpa's favorite again.

He was Gohan's Little Lady.

"Gohan... is Princess Moon full tonight?"

"No. I checked. Remember not to look outside-"

"I know... Don't look out at night when Princess Moon is full, and always ask you first." Goku hummed. He looked at the candle that Gohan would leave on for just a little while longer. "Grandpa, could you show the ball again?"

"Oh, the little starred ball?"

Gohan stood up, leaving Goku to pout as his pillow disappeared. After shuffling around a few items, Gohan showed off the small golden orb. "Why do you like this so much?"

"It's warm, like your hugs, Grandpa," Goku offered. He snuggled against Gohan again, reaching for the little ball. "The ball is bright, like the sun." Gohan hummed a small tune, one that Goku remembered was about a Princess on the Moon.

Gohan looked down at the child that was drifting off to sleep, the one that had changed into a girl during the lunar eclipse. His Little Lady. For all the strangeness that came with caring for this child, Goku never brought him grief. It was like having the son that he had prayed for in his youth, and during the lunar eclipse, he had a daughter to decorate. He would brush Goku's hair more delicately, though he never let up while they were training. Goku did like the different things that he could wear as a girl, like the ribbons and bells that Gohan would put in his hair. It seemed to remind Goku about something from his birth family.

He would hum Goku to sleep, even when his sweet child would cry and hit him lightly in his slumber.

* * *

 

They would spend their days like this. The days would pass, and Kakarotto would let a small bit of his memory go at a time.

He would turn into Goku more and more, and he'd remember the faces of his family less and less.

* * *

Age: September 742

He only went outside to go to relieve himself. He looked up for a moment, as the night was too dark. Suddenly, all was bright. Where was the light coming from? He looked up, and he suddenly wanted to eat and eat and kill and kill. His chest ached and he wanted everything to disappear with him.

"-ku! Goku!"

Everything needed to disappear.

"Goku!"

He looked up to the sky.

"I told you not to-"

The world broke beneath him.

"Please!"

* * *

The next day, Goku buried his grandfather, and he was all alone again.


	8. Hiding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm. To let people know, some primates in the wild reach sexual maturity at the age of 1 year. Goku has reached this age in terms of being a Saiya-jin.

Age: September 742

The day after Gohan died, it was bright and sunny. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the scent of the air had only the greenery and river that lay in the mountains. It was as though the world did not know that they had just lost the only person that Goku cared about. Goku did his best to re-enact the only ceremony that he had truly taken part in on Planet Vegeta.

The funeral for Gine's dam was a somber one. They took her to the beach where her progenitor was born, and there she was emptied of her inner organs, stones placed in her belly, and her corsage was tossed into the waves of the calm ocean. Her organs were then placed in a special jar and buried in the sand. Goku couldn't remember the sensation of it now, but he had licked at her blood on his hands, out of curiosity. For once, no-one scolded him, and he saw as his family unit did the same. It was a ceremony for a loss of blood-kin, and this was a Kyū Kon funeral; from the ocean they came, and to the ocean they would return.

He'd give Gohan the Moto funeral, one that bore semblance to the Yasai burial. He dug the hole where his caretaker... his grandfather would be buried. It was right by the marker that bore the elder's name, the one that stood in front of their little home. He was silent as he carried his grandfather's corsage as best as he could, carefully placing him in it - though it wasn't like he was going to wake up again - and proceeded to think of the pride and humble-ness that Gohan had lived with. He wailed at the sky, the sky that was still so blue and clear even though his grandfather was gone. It paid no mind to his broken bones or bruised face... It treated this death like the universe had treated the deaths of his people.

It was an ordinary day.

* * *

May 745

Goku didn't know how many years in the mountains he had stayed alone. He knew that the seasons had changed several times since Gohan had died, and he had had to patch the roof several times.

He would do everything that his grandfather had taught him. In the morning, he would train, hunt, and he would go over what little bit he could read. He would also use his scouter to assist him with such things, because sometimes his mathematics got the best of him. Gohan had told him that he may look three years old, but he was the size of a seven or eight-year-old, so Goku began counting his age from then. He'd be eleven soon.

As he went to fish by the river, Goku noticed a scent that he'd noticed before but had never really cared for. It was... sweeter, somehow.

He carefully, quietly went into the forest, looking for the source of the scent. He heard the small noises of the animals, but there was a tone in the voices that seemed to be hungry for something. The scent, he realized, was one of many, and all around him, the animals smelt of hunger, protectiveness, and wishes.

Goku, frowning in curiosity, jumped into the trees, hoping to find an explanation. He did find one, in monkeys.

It wasn't what he was expecting.

The male was climbing over the female's back, hooting and making noises that he remembered Raditz making at Vegeta once. Except, while his brother and mate began to fight right after, the female monkey turned and grinned a fanged-grin. She chittered slightly and turned away again, moving along slowly, waiting for her friend. Goku blinked as the male jumped onto the female's back, leaving the female to grip at the bark of the tree that they were balancing in. Goku saw as the male-

'Why did he put his... thing in her? Why there?'

Goku felt the scent assault his nose again, and he found a warmth in his belly that he could not describe well as he saw the male shift his hips forward and backward, like he was trying to stuff something into the female, while the female stood stoically. After a few more thrusts, the male dismounted the female and they took off again through the trees. Goku bit his lip, following them. He saw them do this a few more times, in the trees and on the ground, before they stopped altogether and joined their party.

He returned to the river.

What did that mean? Why did they come together like that?

_"He courted her, as all males do, and she responded favorably to both forms he held. Under the Blood of Red Moon, they coupled."_

Was that what coupling was? Gohan had mentioned that he wanted Goku to have children, to meet a girl and have children that the old man could coddle. Was that how it happened? That was how he could have a family unit of his own?

Goku began to take off his clothes, his stomach demanding attention, but he was first trying to relieve the warmth and pressure in his belly. He smiled sadly.

There was no female for him to couple with, to mate with, and his mates were gone.

He pressed his fingers to his own hard flesh and he moaned quietly as he stroked himself. Suddenly the small breeze against his body seemed to make his body hyper-sensitive. He was getting gooseflesh and he was feeling empty and full all at the same time. Reaching up to the small rock where he had laid his clothes and Nyoi-Bo, he turned himself to kneel, his bottom sticking up in the air. He noticed that his tail wasn't moving like it usually did; instead, it fell off to the side. He whimpered as he tried to think straight, but his hands were going anywhere and everywhere. They danced on his chest, making him support himself by planting his cheek against the smooth rock. They danced by his hips, making him thrust slightly, like he had seen the male earlier.

One hand dared to go downward towards his bottom, and he shivered at the strange wetness that seemed to be coming out of his body. He touched the source of it, and he thoughtlessly shoved a finger inside. His cries were loud and wordless, especially as his other hand wrapped around his penis, the part of him that felt full and wanted to be put into...

His mind sent him a thought, the image of a body, and he groaned in confusion. He was imagining thrusting into Vegeta, and his fingers - another had joined the first that he had thrust into his body, and they were moving now - were pretending to be Raditz. When he put another finger, because two didn't seem to be enough anymore, he forgot about thrusting into his imaginary Vegeta and imagined both Vegeta and his brother stuffing him full. He knew that he was squeezing his eyes so hard that tears were coming out, but he couldn't help it. He was trying to go even deeper, to a spot that his body told him didn't exist.

He wanted to bite something, something that he could do to relieve his stress, but he only found himself with a bloodied lip.

Suddenly, the pressure was gone, and he found himself stuffed and emptied. He looked down and saw white fluid on the ground. His fingers, once he pulled them out of his body and looked, were covered in sweet-smelling stickiness.

He heard Raditz and Vegeta sighing contentedly.

He smiled and wiped his hands off on the grass.

Goku went fishing.


	9. Helping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter.

Age: April 745

Goku ran and jumped into the trees, eagerly awaiting the reason for the new scent that he had picked up since that day in the forest. He was more familiar with the coupling smell now, as some other pairs of males and females had done the same.

There were even some other pairs that were only males, and Goku let himself watch and try to keep more focus on the details of it. The females touched each other but it wasn't as frequent. Both of these kinds did not have the same smell as the male and female pairs did.

He watched since the day that the new smell appeared; it only happened in some of the male-female pairs, and the pair that he had first watched was soaked in that smell. They never turned him away when he grew more curious and dared to go closer to them; in fact, they welcomed him, grinning and hooting warmly, and they even groomed him on occasion. He did the same to them, though he never ate the things that crawled in their fur, and he hummed in wonder at the first time he touched the female's belly.

It seemed to be swollen, but it was hard. She smelled healthy enough, and the male did not let her do dangerous things. Every once in a while, when Goku had rested his hand upon the larger belly, something would hit his hand. It was like a force inside of her was reacting to him.

As Goku grew closer to their small nest that the female had been building, he noticed that the scent was very strong. It smelt of new things and fresh water. He carefully approached the nest, chittering like he remembered that Raditz did when he had first come to the Palais to visit Goku all those years ago. It was to be disarming, trustworthy. The female welcomed him, chittering back to him in joy at the sight of him. He curled against her, cooing soft words that he hardly remember now because he didn't need words to talk with anyone now that he was alone out here.

He smiled as she licked his cheeks and reminded him of his dam. He wiped away at his tears because this female couldn't cry like he could.

Goku jumped at the small screeching that she made, pushing him away. The male - her mate - came forward and hooted gently at her before stalking around the nest, his chest thrust forward and his fangs bared. Goku looked at the male in confusion; why would he need to protect his mate right now? He looked to her and noticed her curling forward, as though in pain. He wanted to interfere, but the female made several grunts before a large amount of fluid seemed to spill out of her. Goku, curious, placed his hands in the fluid, and noted it smelt only of that new scent.

Goku whimpered slightly as he saw blood come out of her body, and he tried to help her move, somehow to keep her body out of the blood. He helped her onto her hind legs, her arms grasping at the edge of the nest. It seemed like her body was trying to squeeze something out, and Goku kept an eye on the swell of her belly; had it been something bad the whole time, and he hadn't helped her?

A scream, a new voice completely, came from between the female's legs, and Goku found himself staring at the wrinkled face of a newborn monkey. The infant's eyes were large . and dark, and they reflected everything that they saw. It let out a screeching, quivering whole-body as it slipped out of her slowly. The male - her mate, Goku now realized, from the mixed scent that the infant carried - came forward, hooting softly, just as the infant fell into the softness of the nest, and a cord coming between the dam's legs, from her womb, was the only left connecting dam and offspring. Goku reached forward slowly, biting through the cord and watching as something else, not an infant, slipped out from the female.

The male was coddling his newborn, Goku sniffing at the infant, while the female at the thing that had come out of her. She must not have been eating, Goku thought, because the female turned and ate the after-birthing. She ate it hungrily before reaching for her squealing infant and holding it to her chest. Goku hummed as the infant suckled on his dam's teat, the scent of milk hitting the air and Goku's nose.

He left the nest shortly after, thinking of Gine and how he wanted to be held against her chest again, to taste her milk, and to not feel alone anymore.


	10. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuing from the previous chapter, and moving from then, to the story we love. I debated having these events take place since I started on chapter... 2? This leads to a lot of change in plot, but I like it.

Age: April 745

Goku stayed in his pod for the next few days. He tried to smell Gine on the armor that Gohan had placed there after getting Goku some lighter clothing, Bardock on the bells that had been placed in his pod. He licked at the metal, trying to pick up the long-dead taste. He cut his tongue once on the sharp exposed metal of a ripped-open door, but he only continued to lick, losing himself in long ago memories. He was almost a year old now, and he could only cry.

There would normally be celebration for this, he knew; he remembered that his brother had told him, and his Prince had been so excited, behind his hardening features, that soon he'd been a year old and finally considered mature. Not mature enough for he and Kakarotto to couple, but enough that he could become Prince Regent, and he would have true power on their world.

He returned his tongue back to his mouth, the pain of the harsh cut finally burning too much for him to handle.

Goku hummed softly, chittering as he reached further into his pod and sat down on the seat of the pod. He looked around, trying to analyze and remember everything that he could recall from his memories. A beeping sounded at his hip, and Goku looked down to see his scouter. Frowning in confusion, he lifted it, opened the small hinge and placed it over his eye.

Secured over his ear, the scouter beeped once, twice more, before remaining silent. Goku waited, anxious, and listened to the static of the scouter's speaker. The scouter had never done such a thing before, so this was a frightening experience for him. Possibly... 

「Kakarotto.」

Tears were welling in his eyes again, and he whimpered at the feeling, the burning in his eyes and in his throat. He closed his eyes at the voice of Gine, his dam, and he brought his hands up to his ears. No, he didn't want to hear her voice! The first woman that he had cared for, and she wasn't here anymore! What would be the point of remembering?

'It hurts!' he thought.

「I programmed this to play when you were in the pod. Several months have passed and you have been missing us, haven't you?」 Goku opened his eyes and he could see Gine in the small eye-piece of the scouter. Her pale face was framed by her hair, and her deep, dark eyes looked so sad. Her mouth, however, was in the shape of a smile. She let out a small choking noise, followed by something of a laugh.

「Kakarotto. If we're still alive, believe me when I say that we're looking for you. We want to find you. My small one, we will find you.」  Gine looked down to the ground, and Goku finally saw what was behind her: the same pod that he was going to be placed in,  _had_ been placed in.

「If... If you are still alone, Kakarotto, know that we still care for you. We will always be in your blood. You are the younger creature to be inside of my belly, and you are my precious small one. Please... Don't be pained by your loneliness, my Karo...」 Gine lifted her head and smiled.

「Live for us. If you can't live for yourself, live for us. Live for me.」

The image faded, but as it did, he could hear Bardock mumbling something, and he could hear a strange whining noise.

Goku touched the face of his scouter gently.

"Gi... ne..."

His voice was hoarse. How long had it been since he had spoken? He couldn't even recognize his voice! He looked down at his hands that were broken and bleeding from how little he had been caring for himself. There hadn't really been a point since Grandpa had died.

'It had been the day that Grandpa had died. That was the last time I talked.'

"Gi-ne..."

'Kakarotto... that was my name.'

"Gine!"

'I'm all alone, but that's okay.'

He cried himself to sleep in his pod, and he kept asking himself the same question and the scouter could not answer him.

'Why did she leave me here?'

* * *

After gathering parts of his pod and tucking his scouter into a pocket on his pants, he went into the house where he and Gohan had lived. He felt the emptiness of it all.

There was nobody to be his pillow, nobody to help him read the books that Gohan had left on the shelf, and nobody was there to talk to him about the different stories that this world had to offer. Nobody was there to tell him when he first began to bleed or when he started having strange dreams about blue fire and blackened skies.

"Gohan..." Goku set his things down on the small table where his grandfather's box sat, the special box that held the orange ball with four red stars. For a moment, he stared at the black box before finally opening it.

He pressed a hand to the ball and froze. It wasn't cold.

It was warm, like his grandpa's kisses and hugs and the soup that they would make when the wind was strong. As Goku's tears graced the smooth surface, the ball only reminded him of the sweets that Gohan would buy when he would travel and leave Goku at home. Goku would wait like a good boy and keep everything clean for when Gohan came back from whatever place he had gone to, with sweets in his arms and books and sometimes, he would come with equipment to spar with.

He took the pillow that sat in the box and placed it on the table. The ball sparkled as he set it down, the sunlight able to finally hit it.

"Thank you, Grandpa... for taking care of me. I won't forget what you taught me... or what Gine did."

'I am Goku.'

* * *

Age: June 749

Goku smiled down at the pond, putting his clothes back on as the water splashed around the rocks. He heard the snickering of one of the animals around him. He looked up, saw a young doe and her fawn, and smiled.

"Koipa! How are you and your infant today!"

The doe bowed her head before going on her way, pushing her offspring away gently. He smiled and waved at her before picking up the tail of the fish that he had just caught. He hummed his own songs, words that told stories of long ago in his head. His scouter was placed on his ear and he mumbled to the wind that never spoke and always listened.

"After we get this fish ready t' eat, we should go on another hike through the woods. We can start drawing the maps again, and we can make sure we don't get lost like we did two days ago. I ain't getting lost again!"

The wind never answered, but it always listened. It listened to his voice, and it helped him remember that he really did have one.

He waved up at the monkeys in the trees. "Pisuno, Azuki! G'morning!" He smiled at the young monkey that he had seen the birth of years ago, and her own offspring.

But there was a different sound today.

"Huh?" He looked all around and he noticed a large object coming down the path. He cried out at the speed it was coming down the path, and a shrill noise came out of it too. It turned to show its flank and it didn't even hit Goku.

It hit his lunch!

"You monster! You're trying to steal my catch, aren't you?!" He ignored the sounds that came out of the monster - it seemed to have a metal armor of some kind - and slipped underneath it. "I won't let you get - ugh! - away with that!"

He threw it as far as he could, and it let out a strange noise again, like a scream. He pulled out his Nyoi-bo, and he hummed with interest as a weird fairy came out of beast. It looked like the fairy from one of the books that Grandpa had left behind.

"You little brat!" the fairy cried. In his shock at understanding the sounds - words, he realized - and in his ignorance, he wasn't able to dodge the small, bold projectiles that came out of the weapon that the fairy had pulled out. They weren't enough to break through his skin, but they were so painful.

It reminded him...

He gripped at his head at the pain from the projectiles and from whatever memory what trying to enter his head.

"Wh-What was that just now?! Some kind of magic?!"

The fairy's arms trembled, her eyes wide and face pale. "N... No way! Wh-Why didn't you die?!"

"Idiot! You think something like that would kill me?! I'm as strong as steel!" He felt his breath heavy in his lungs, and he raised his Nyoi-bo. "Time to see your end, Fairy!"

"Wait a minute! I'm not a fairy, I'm a human!"

"Eh?! A human?!" Goku set himself down, already prepared to jump and attack the strange creature that was coming out of the metal monster. "Really?!"

"Of course!" the human attempted to reassure him. "Just like you!"

He frowned. "But you look so soft and weak!"

"What, you've never seen a girl before?"

Goku hummed softly to himself. "This is the first time I've seen another human. When he was alive, though, my grandpa had that if I ever met a girl, though, to be really nice to her."

He invited her to his home, the little house that he had shared with his grandfather so many years ago. She looked like she needed to have some food anyway.

'Maybe... Maybe we can be friends,' Goku thought. 'Maybe she can visit us!'

"Grandpa, I'm home!" he greeted the small orange ball with four red stars.

"The Dragon Ball!"

If only it had stopped at that.


	11. Departing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku learns about anatomy and why he's different from humans in another way besides his tail. Bulma freaks out, educates the weird monkey kid that she picked up, and starts asking about what kind of experiments must have been done on him to make him this way.
> 
> Goku is not pleased.

Bulma smiled down at the boy that was currently running around the Capsule House She couldn't believe how easy it was to convince him to come along. He'd be a wonderful bodyguard on their journey...

She was left wondering, though, about the boy's parents. What kind of parents let their son run around with a tail? If his grandfather was dead, then why weren't they with him now? She wondered vaguely if he was thinking about them.

Bulma laughed as Goku jumped away from the television. He quickly became enamored with the device, whispering something about a scouter.

"Ugh..." She noticed a foul stench and followed her nose to find the source. "Goku, you stink! You need a bath!"

"... What's a bath?"

Bulma felt her stomach churn. "Kid, I can't believe you're really asking."

"Well, I don't know what that is." Bulma's mind had a small wave of fuzziness pass through it as she watched Goku climb onto the couch.

"I... I guess I'll have to show you."

* * *

Bulma shivered as her soapy hands ran through Goku's hair. There was so much dirt and grit in his hair, and he was not bothered by it. He did, however, enjoy Bulma's fingers in his hair. He babbled on like a little kid about how his grandfather would pet his hair and massage his head. As Bulma handed him a sponge for his front, Goku rubbed the sponge on his stomach while Bulma washed his back and-

"What? Did you really attach this fake tail to your butt?!"

Goku looked up at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Bulma felt the furriness of the tail, wrapped her fingers around it, and gripped it tightly. She pulled as hard as she could, and she didn't really get why Goku started crying out in pain. Goku reached out to the edge of the bathtub, gripping it with small fingers. His eyes were clenched in pain, prompting Bulma to let go of the tail.

"Ugh..." Goku turned to her and frowned. "I can wash my own back." The brush that Bulma was using was snatched from her grasp by the now-moving tail, which began to move the sponge brush across Goku's back.

"Like this, Bulma?"

She screamed.

"Bulma, can we eat after my bath?"

"Go find your own food, wild boy! This is too much for me!"

* * *

The next morning, Goku was blinking as he began to wake up. The sun was bright and it stung his eyes. As he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he looked around and was pleased to see that Bulma was there.

'So yesterday really  _did_ happen.'

He had been hesitant to go to sleep last night, but his body was used to sleeping before the Moon came out. He didn't want to wake up in the morning and see that he was still alone in his house. No stranger came to save him from his loneliness, no one took him away from his safe place in the mountains; those things sounded like they came from the fairy tales that Grandpa had told him. Bulma had seemed much like a fairy anyway, with her machines that came out of capsules and her houses that came from those very same things. What shocked him so much was that she so openly brought him along and despite the annoyance in her voice, she still took time to explain so many things to him.

That, and the fact that she really was surprised by his tail. He wondered how she'd act when he told her about the Red Moon, which he had spotted while on his hunt the night before.

Goku sat up and walked over to where Bulma slept. He pet her hair. It was a different color, but it felt like spiderweb in his fingers. It was so delicate and beautiful, the color of a waterfall. He let his fingers comb through part of it, and he wished that she would stroke his hair like she did yesterday when she gave him a bath, groom him like Pisuno and Azuki did when he visited them in the trees.

He looked down, then, to between her legs. He already saw that she had no tail, but was she like him? She was completely flat between her legs, it looked like. When he laid his head down between her legs, he had been wondering if it felt like Gohan's crotch. There was no softness at all, which was actually upsetting. He turned around and felt the same spot that he had laid on, wondering of its smoothness.

Then... she was just a girl. He pulled off her underwear delicately, and she really was a girl.

"Or her balls are gone for just a while," he said to the sleepy room, and he felt Bulma shift beneath him, blinking her eyes open. She hummed in confusion.

"What?"

"Your balls are gone."

Bulma shrieked. "What?!" She scrambled off of the bed with her eyes wide and worried. She ran to the bag where she had placed her two Dragon Balls and, to Goku's surprise, was immediately calmed.

"What are you talking about ? They're right here."

Goku shook his head. What kind of person didn't know what was going on with their body?

"No, between your legs. They're gone."

Bulma became an interesting shade of red, almost like the apples on the apple tree by the mountain river. Her mouth had opened and she look like a fish. "How- Why do you think I'd even have those!? I told you, I'm a girl!"

"But I'm a girl too."

Bulma's eyebrows furrowed. "No, you're a boy! I gave you a bath last night! Those are definitely a boy's parts!" She felt down her pyjamas and her eyes grew wide at the feeling - or the lack of feeling, really - of one of her garments not being there.

Goku blinked up at her. He reached for the tie on his _dogi_ and began pull down his pants, much to the dislike of Bulma. He heard her protesting, but he ignored her and pulled down his underwear too. He heard Bulma stop talking and he looked up to see her staring at him.

"Wh... What happened to you, Son- _kun_?"

Goku shrugged his shoulders. "It happens whenever the Moon turns red." He looked down and started to pull up his clothes again. "I thought... That doesn't happen to you at all?"

"No." Bulma came close to him and bent down a bit, an attempt to catch his eyes. "Do you know why it happens? There weren't any crazy experiments done on you, were there?" She was smiling like it was some kind of joke.

"... I think there were surgeries. It was a long time ago," Goku explained. "I just remember that it hurt a lot."

Arms wrapped around him and he was trapped in the same kind of embrace that his grandfather would wrap him up in when he would get tired or sad. Bulma's fingers came up and threaded through his hair, and he rested his forehead on her shoulder, smelling her. She smelt of the manju buns that Gohan would get for him sometimes when he would travel. She was warm and safe, hands gently grooming Goku in her own human way. Goku felt his chest rumbling more than he heard it, and he turned his head to face Bulma.

Her hair smelt nice. In the same way that he remembered one of his tutors doing so long ago, he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Thank you."

Bulma pulled away, looking down at him strangely. Her fingers brushed over her cheek where Goku had kissed her.

"W-Why did you just... kiss me?"

Goku blinked up at her. "Do people not do that?"

"Well, what did it mean?" Bulma huffed. Her hands made their way to her hips, and her cheeks were pink.

"It's how friends stay connected," Goku pouted. He and his tutors, at least one that he remembered, did so when he was an infant. "Grandpa let me kiss his cheeks. Is that bad?"

Bulma sighed and shook her head. "No. It's not, but I haven't known you long enough. Just... Usually, kisses like that are with your family. Other kisses are just with your girlfriend."

"A girl-friend?"

Bulma smiled. "Or boyfriend. I don't care. But that's the person you want to be with forever." Goku saw her cheeks turn pinker and her eyes seemed to be unfocused, like she was looking somewhere beyond Goku's reach, even her own reach. The young woman made her way to the small kitchen and began to brew the dark brown drink that had tasted so horrible when Goku had tried it.

"Forever..."

Bulma hummed and began to talk of things called "dates" and "weddings." Goku listened as she talked about being together with someone that would take care of her, that she would take care of, and they would never feel lonely. It sounded like having a mate more than anything... But his mates were dead. He didn't need anyone else to make him feel the same way that they did.

He hadn't felt lonely with his brother and mate... He felt cared for and praised, and when he was apart from them, when that bond that he had with them finally disappeared... There had been no ceremony to it. The day that he had forgotten who he was, what "Kakarotto" meant, he had forgotten their names, and his heart no longer remembered the bond. He only felt the ache of emptiness.

Why should he try to replace that special feeling?

"I'm going outside t' exercise! Bulma, you should hurry up an' get ready!"

"You should call me 'Bulma-san'!"

* * *

Goku stretched and practiced his _kata_  in morning sunlight. He let the sun warm him, a small purring noise still rumbling deep in his chest. Once he felt the small beginning of sweat atop his brow, he ran over to one of the large boulders outside. He clasped to it, letting out a deep breath. Gritting his teeth, Goku began to crush it in his embrace.

The thought of what Bulma had said was in his head. She was looking for a mate, then. Would that mate be like how his mates or his own progenitors were? Would Bulma want that kind of life bond? Was she looking for something temporary, like so many other people that he had known? Many of the other infants in his cartload were of temporary mate bonds, and they were never saddened by their progenitors' separations. If anything, they were encouraged by that, to be strong without another person to depend on.

His knuckles were turning white.

_"That's the person you want to be with forever."_

He didn't realize that he would take Bulma's words to heart so quickly. He was starting to care about her.

The shattering of the stone left him feeling empty and drained.

"Hmm!" He ran over to another boulder, eager to crush something else. This time, he would feel better!

"Whoa! Hey, let me go!"

Goku jumped back, letting go of the boulder. "What the Hell?!"

Who knew a sea turtle would lead to such strange events happening?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I posted the last chapter, I reread a ton of Dragonball, and I decided that Goku is too precious not to torture to the max. I am sorry. It will happen later, don't worry.


	12. Meandering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kind of skipping through the early Dragon Ball chapters. The relationships that are established are the important things, or at least more important than some of the events.

The sea turtle was rather polite, but for Bulma, he was invasive. If Goku really was helping him to the ocean, then Bulma would be without her bodyguard... and Goku would be alone.

She also only had 30 days to find the other Dragon Balls.

"Shit."

* * *

Goku spoke with Sea Turtle about what the sea was like. He couldn't really imagine a wide salt bath. He heard the sound of Bulma's motorcycle and he smiled as she began to ride next to them.

* * *

It took about an hour, but they eventually did reach the ocean. Sea Turtle swam away in a hurry.

"I'll bring my master to meet you both! We truly owe you a favor on my behalf. Please wait there!"

Bulma nodded, lifting her pink nightgown. She waded out into the water, sighing at the coolness of it on her legs. She called Goku over.

"Goku, roll your pant legs up and come into the water! It feels wonderful." She watched as Goku took off her shoes and socks. The little girl came out into the water after she rolled up her pants.

"It's cold." Goku wrinkled her nose and bent down to look into the water.

"What's wrong?" Bulma asked, holding back a smile as she watched Goku cup her hands, lifting some of the sea water into her little hands. As the water touched Goku's tongue, Bulma laughed at the girl's discomfort.

"What's wrong with this water?! It's salty!"

They splashed around in the water for a while, and then Bulma showed the girl how to make a sand castle.

"Question for you, Goku?"

"Yeah?"

"If you turn into a girl, do you... You know?"

"Know what?"

"Do you... think you can have a baby?"

Goku made a wall of sand around their little castle. "What's-" The child grew silent, her nose in the air. "I smell something." She looked out into the ocean.

"What's wrong, Goku?"

"Sea Turtle's coming back, and there's someone on his back!"

Bulma turned to where Goku was looking and saw a black speck in the distance. "Are you sure? How can you see that far?"

The Turtle and his guest arrived, who happened to be an old man with a purple shell on his back.

"Hello, children."

Bulma and Goku made their way to the old man. "Hello, sir," Bulma greeted, she and Goku both bowing.

"It seems like you helped out my turtle here!"

"We did," Goku affirmed. "And who are you, Grampa?"

"I am Kame Sen'nin." The man turned to Sea Turtle and asked who had helped, to which the Turtle affirmed that it was Goku.

"I see." Kame Sen'nin approached Goku with a kindness to him that Bulma found herself missing; it reminded her of home. "Young lady, allow me to commend you for your hard work. I have a wonderful present to thank you with!"

"A present?" Goku's tail was moving behind her in curiosity.

Kame Sen'nin attempted to call an Immortal Phoenix to them, but it had apparently died. The old man then settled on something called "Kinto-Un."

"A cloud! It's coming right at us!" Bulma pointed to the sky and, truly, a little cloud was coming right towards them. It stopped in front of them, hovering about the ground.

"This is Kinto-Un. If you can ride on it, you can fly anywhere you'd like!"

"I can fly in the sky!" Goku went forward and pet the cloud.

"There is one catch," Kame Sen'nin annotated. "Only those with a pure heart can ride on Kinto-Un! If you aren't a good girl, you won't be able to ride it. Here, watch."

The old man jumped onto the cloud and promptly fell through it, sending Bulma into a spiel of laughter.

As Sea Turtle helped Kame Sen'nin up, Goku jumped on the cloud-

"What?!"

\- and stayed on it.

"I can ride it!" Goku shouted, before she flew off into the sky.

Bulma smiled. Having a flying cloud of all things would make their travel so much easier.

"Hey, grandpa! Can I have one of those too?"

"Huh. Did this girl help you too, my friend?"

The Turtle shook its head. "No, not a bit."

"What about the salt-water I gave you?"

The old man seemed to ponder this, probably thinking of something small to give her. Bulma pouted when he heard him mumble about there only being one cloud, but she spotted something under his white beard; a little orange ball.

"What about that little ball hanging from your neck?"

Kame Sen'nin looked down and removed his necklace from his person, and there Bulma saw the Three Star Ball.

"I'll take this!"

"Okay... Show me your panties as exchange."

Bulma stood there for a moment, frozen, as the Sea Turtle scolded his master. She thought on her options. Give in to him and get another step closer to her wish, or...

"Here you go!" Bulma lifted up her nightgown, eternally thankful that she had put her panties back on this morning after talking with Goku.

* * *

When they came upon a village later, they encountered more people than Goku had seen in his entire life. They had been terrorized by a strange demon that had been stealing girls from the village.

"Now he wants mine." The Priest of the Village held his daughter of eight years old close. Goku watched as the little girl hid her face in her father's chest. Goku thought for a moment of his own progenitor, and he nodded at Bulma's suggestion of helping the villagers.

"What should we do then?" Goku turned to Bulma who was deep in thought.

The young woman smiled after a few moments. "Goku, have you ever worn a dress?"

"No."

Hurriedy, as the time of Oolong's arrival approached, Goku was dressed up in Flugel's clothes, a dress and bandanna. Bulma rubbed something onto his skin, calling it a "foundation," to make him look more like a girl.

"You know," Bulma whispered, "since you turned back into a boy already."

Goku nodded. He guessed that the thought made sense.

Goku had had to pull his pants down to piss before Oolong figured it out.

* * *

The desert reminded Goku of something he didn't want to remember. As he flew on Kinto-Un, he was reminded of cold bodies, bodies that he had handled. It seemed like a long time ago, which was indeed during his first time out of the Healing-Dan as an infant.

Maromashu.

"Don't worry, Kakarotto," he remembered being told, but he didn't remember who it was.

"Bulma's fallen asleep," Goku commented. Oolong sighed.

"That girl is so spoiled. We should rest, too, though."

Goku frowned. His own stomach was growling. "I'll go look for some food. Do you like pork?"

"You bastard! What do you think?!" Oolong growled. Goku stared at him and wondered why he was so mad, but then a weird rumbling noise caught his ear.

A Jet Squirrel carrying a young man arrived. As the man stepped off of the machine, Goku smelled only one other scent on him; he must be living out here in the desert.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the King Hyena of the Desert. The name's Yamcha." The young man laid his hand on his weapon; Goku wondered if it was a blade. A small cat came to be by Yamcha's side. "And this is Pu-erh."

"'Pu-erh'?" Oolong pointed at the little cat, and Goku frowned at the act; it made him feel more than annoyed. "You don't mean 'Crybaby Pu-erh', do you?"

"What? Oolong?" 

Yamcha looked down at his ally. "You know him?"

"S-Sort of. In my first year of shape-shifter school, he used to pick on me all the time." Pu-erh grimaced. "That is, until he was expelled for stealing the female teachers' panties!"

Yamcha chuckled as Oolong tried to defend himself. "You know, I don't usually pick on babies. Hand over your money and any capsules that you've got!"

* * *

The great fire of Frypan Mountain was licking at the tail of his Kinto-Un and Goku hurriedly got them away from the hungry flames. He grimaced at the feeling of failure that bubbled in his tummy. He'd have to tell Bulma that they couldn't get into the castle this way.

"Bulma! We can't get in!" The girl in the weird bunny outfit looked frightened, shocked, and other feelings that Goku found to mean embarrassment.

"Goku!"

A large man was by them, and Goku realised that this must be Gyu-Maou. He stood with an air of toughness that didn't really affect Goku; he'd play with sharp-tooth tigers and silver apes as an infant. A man didn't seem like much compared to them.

"Wait?" the large man asked. He stared at Goku, or at least what he was standing on. "Is that Kinto-Un that you're riding on?"

"Yeah!" Goku answered. "Grampa Kame-Sennin gave it t' me. You know that Grampa?"

Gyu-Maou laughed heartily, gently taking Goku's hands in his. "He was mah teacher, the Sen'nin what taught me. He taught me an' a friend, who was 'is number one."

"Really?" Goku shivered with excitement. If he could meet that strong person-! "What was his name?"

"Son Gohan."

Goku felt that excitement shock his mind and heart as harshly as he could. "You knew my Grampa Gohan?!"

"You're 'is grandson?" Gyu-Maou looked him over and there, he stared over Goku's shoulder. "The Nyoi-Bo! You are Son's grandson!"

"Yes. I'm Son Goku!"

"Son Goku. Wonderful!" The man pulled him close and Goku shuddered at the unfamiliar contact. Not a lot of animals had hugged him when he was on his mountain, so it was still strange to be on the receiving end of it. "Can you help me, since ya got Kinto-Un? The fire wasn' there always. A curse was put here, and the onl' thing tha' can help is the Bashou-Sen, which I sent my daughter Chi-Chi to go git from Kame-Sen'nin."

"Did you want me to pick her up and get us both there?" Goku watched as Gyu-Maou pulled out a picture - a really well-drawn picture! - of a child with long black hair, black eyes, and a blade on her head. Gyu-Maou nodded at the question.

"If you could. Please, Goku! You could have any o' the treasures inside after the fire's out!"

Goku couldn't think of anything that he would want, but Bulma stepped forward. "Have you seen an orange ball with red stars in it? Is that one of your treasures?"

"That sounds familiar. If ya want it, ya can have it!"

Bulma pointed Goku in the direction of the Sea, and Goku began to race towards the great water, smiling to himself at the thought that the world had gotten bigger and smaller at the same time.

'He knew Grampa.'

* * *

As she wandered through the desert, she rubbed at her throat. She should have packed more than just one canteen. With her fans at her side, she trekked through the sand, feeling the iron pull her feet deeper into the dead soil.

She looked up to the sky. She was certainly heading towards the south, but there was no view of the sea yet.

"How big is the world?"

The girl perked up at a noise, like a laughing wind and she turned to see a young boy on a cloud. His  _dogi_ was a blue color, and his hair was spiked in every direction. He seemed surprised and happy to see her.

"Hey, are you Chi-Chi?"

His eyes were blacker than the empty night sky, and Chi-Chi found herself distracted by that. Even her own father's hair was lighter compared to her, and hers was blacker than the deepest ink.

"Yeah, and who are you? How do you know my name?"

"My name is Son Goku. Your papa sent me to help you get the Bashou-Sen!" Goku lowered his cloud down and Chi-Chi managed to climb on with a bit of difficulty. She stared at the tail attached to him.

"We're heading to Grampa Kame-Sennin, right?" Goku told her to hold onto him because they might be going a bit faster than she's used to. She nodded and held onto him. He was very warm and hard against her hands, so she figured that he must be strong, especially to know Kame-Sennin and to have spoken with her father.

As they flew through the sky, she looked down as she saw the desert shrink below them and saw that the land eventually turned into river-fed valleys and grassy mountains.

"Wow..."

"Are you okay, Chi-Chi?" Goku turned back to her, tilting his head up to see her eyes. "Are you tired?"

"A little bit," she murmured, laying her head on his shoulder. He smelt of smoke, the smoke of Frypan Mountain. "I just didn't know that there was so much green in the entire world."

Goku smiled. "I know what you mean. Where I was born, there wasn't much green. Where I lived with my Grampa, we only saw the mountains and the river, like that valley we just passed. But ya know... Me and Bulma, we went to the sea to help Kame-Sennin's Sea Turtle, and I'd never tasted the ickiest water in the whole world 'til then!"

Chi-Chi giggled. They were both new to the world then, chicks that hadn't flown yet. She felt something move against her tummy and she put some space between their bodies to see a wiggling tail at the base of Goku's back.

"Are you some kind of monkey?"

Goku blinked at her, his smile shrinking slightly. It was still there, but it seemed to be painful to keep smiling like that.

"I'm Saiya." Goku grinned up at her. "You're human, right?"

"Of course."

"Then I can't kiss you, right? We would always kiss cheeks when making new friends."

Chi-Chi smiled. Whatever the silly word meant, Goku seemed proud to be associated with it. She pressed her lips against Goku's cheek, and she felt a spark inside of her chest, like a warm fire. Not like the one that came and took over her home, but one that her father had lit one night when the electricity had disappeared and they stayed in his room by the fireplace. He warned her not to touch, only look and grow warm from. She had fallen asleep, safe from the cold of that autumn night.

Goku's smile grew then, and he pulled her down a bit to kiss her cheek. Chi-Chi's heart skipped. Goku was like her, and he liked her, even as a friend.

"Say, can you tell me about Saiya?" Goku hummed at the question.

He never answered her about Saiya, but he did tell her a story; "it explains a lot about us!" he explained. It was the story of Seyen Warrior and Damu the Future Guardian. Chi-Chi yawned a bit, but Goku told her that she could take a nap as they flew, and it'd be a while yet. She was almost asleep, comforted by Goku's voice and the gentle rumbling in his body that came from him speaking, until she heard one line.

> _"T he young mercenary was invited to greet the newborn. The moment his eyes fell upon her, he was gazing upon the face of beauty, and he was as one dead."_

"Goku, what does that mean? Did he die?"

The boy shook his head. "It means that he'd die for her."

"Would you die for me?" Chi-Chi asked sleepily.

"Sure, Chi-Chi. I'd die for you."

The girl smiled as she closed her eyes, and when Goku turned and kissed her cheek again, something more than friendship grew in her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Males and females in Saiya-jin culture are all equal in legacy unless their names are worth remembering according to the storyteller. I use this kind of speech a lot in explaining equipment when I can't remember the names of pieces or procedures.  
> * In this case, however, Seyen and Damu can also be what they were previously used for - this makes the story even stranger.


End file.
